Traralgon community fights for more safety measures on Seymour St and Hotham St

Traralgon traders and shoppers are demanding urgent safety upgrades at two major streets after a string of cars crashing into shopfronts.

A driver crashed into the window of Charcoal Chicken on Seymour St in Traralgon about midday on Tuesday April 2, 2024. Picture: Isabelle Backman

Traders and shoppers from a Latrobe Valley town are calling for bollards to be placed on two busy streets to stop motorists ploughing into shop windows.

Popular shopping strips Seymour St and Hotham St in Traralgon are usually busy during the day but several recent incidents have sparked alarm and a demand for better safety.

At noon on Tuesday, a customer had a lucky escape when they moved out of the way just before a car ploughed into the window of Charcoal Chicken on Seymour St.

The driver was not injured, but was left in shock.

Nearby workers witnessed a loud bang outside their shops on Tuesday. Picture: Isabelle Backman

In December last year, a driver mounted the kerb and hit a pole on the footpath, damaging a sign on the Shoe Room store.

On another occasion, a driver crashed into the phone box just outside Tiffany’s Florist.

The car entered the footpath, hitting a pole that caused damage to the Shoe Room's roof sign on Seymour St in December, 2023. Picture: Supplied

The Shoe Room got its sign replaced after it was damaged. Picture: Jack Colantuono

Light & Shade owner Bruce Dell, who has been running the Hotham St business for 14 years, said cars had twice crushed into his shop.

“We’ve had people trying to park their cars — and basically they put the old foot to the floor and come in through the doorway,” Mr Dell said.

“The first one went right through our shop and nearly wiped out myself, a staff member and a customer — that was 13 years ago and that caused about $250,000 worth of damage all up.”

Mr Dell said the second incident was in October last year, where a driver had a medical episode.

“Unfortunately a lady just came (drove) through our doors and onto the carpet,” he said.

It's believed the female driver suffered from a medical episode before she crashed into the window of Shade & Light on Hotham St, Traralgon on October 23, 2023. Picture: Jack Colantuono

“I don’t know whether it’s the design of the road where the gutters are too small — but the cars seem to be able to mount that — it’s not a very deep gutter.

“I don’t know a lot about that sort of stuff, but it just seems like it’s very easy to roll your car up and over the edge of the gutters without any trouble at all.

“If you were to stand in our shop or look out, there’s quite a slope the cars come down — both in Seymour and Hotham St.”

Mr Dell said a woman drove into the Cheap as Chips shop’s window in February this year.

“I believe she was parked and put her car mistakenly in drive rather than reverse,” he said.

The driver crashed into the window of Cheap as Chips on Hotham St in Traralgon on February 9, 2024. Picture: Facebook

“So that just shows you how easy it is to get a car up the gutter.”

Mr Dell is advocating for bollards to be installed on both streets to prevent these incidents from happening.

“We’ve just been lucky there hasn’t been a busy day where someone has walked past and got collected by a car,” he said.

“And this town is getting busier and busier — it’s not getting quieter.”

“Maybe they should put some garden beds in like they did in Morwell — it doesn’t have to be bollards as such — you can put some concrete garden beds in, seats or something just to give the streets a bit of protection,” he said.

“The government pays for restaurants to have bollards put out in front because of Covid for outdoor eating.

“So far, we’ve been very lucky in town — nobody’s been hurt or injured.”

He added that sometimes it’s not the driver at fault.

“Once, it’s a freak accident. Twice … concerning. Three times, we’ve got a problem occurring,” Mr Dell said.

A Latrobe City Council spokesperson said council had no plans to install additional bollards on either street.

“Council has installed bollards at high-risk areas such as intersections and will continue to assess the risks to pedestrians and business owners within the CBD’s of our city,” the spokesperson said.

“Council encourages drivers to check their surroundings and drive safely.”