Goulburn Valley’s road safety crisis deepens with five killed on roads in past fortnight

Five deaths in the space of a fortnight on Goulburn Valley roads has left local leaders and the wider community perplexed and worried over how road safety can be improved in the region.

The Goulburn Valley continues to be plagued by a mounting road toll.

Five deaths on Goulburn Valley roads in the space of a fortnight has left local leaders concerned the region is in the midst of a road safety crisis.

More than 100 lives have been lost on rural roads this year.

On Monday, a man was killed at Ardmona about 10am, while just days earlier on August 30, another man died at Bunbartha.

Another man was flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries in that same shocking head-on collision.

The week before that, two men died in a collision at Mooroopna North, while another died at Congupna and a young woman was critically injured at Tallygaroopna.

In 2024, 10 lives have been lost on the roads in Greater Shepparton, with another eight recorded in the Campaspe Shire, and three in the Moira Shire.

Yet another life was lost at Seymour, and another at Yarck.

Roadsafe Goulburn Valley executive officer-secretary Bill Winters told the Herald Sun a lot of the problems came from distractions.

“Driver behaviour and distractions within the car are the main issues we find, and police will tell you the same,” Mr Winters said.

Mr Winters, who has been involved with Roadsafe Goulburn Valley for 14 years, thought people had a disregard for others on the road.

Roadsafe Goulburn Valley’s Bill Winters speaking to high school students about the importance of road safety.

“People tend to just drive from A to B, they are just focused on getting to their destination, and sometimes they come unstuck,” Mr Winters said.

Victorian Nationals MP Kim O’Keeffe said the significant increase in road accidents and fatalities was devastating.

“Regional roads are a very different driving experience with many back roads and dangerous intersections,” she said.

“More needs to be done to improve road safety on regional roads.”

Kim O’Keeffe said “immediate action” is required to tackle the Goulburn Valley’s road safety crisis.

WHY IS IT HAPPENING?

Late last month, Bill Winters visited a Tallygaroopna primary school to educate students on the rules of the road.

There, he was told by the local lollipop man that drivers hooned through the 40km/h school zone at more than 100km/h.

Mr Winters said the problems weren’t necessarily the roads, even though he conceded there were some problematic intersections and stretches of highway.

“The roads aren’t too bad. You have got to drive to the conditions,” he said.

“The highway is capable enough. So why are they hitting each other? It is distractions,” Mr Winters said.

He also said drugs and alcohol played a big role, but acknowledged police were relatively under-resourced and did a “great job” with booze buses.

Ultimately, the road safety campaigner said people were “just not doing the right thing on the road”.

Mr Winters and Ms O’Keeffe both preached visitors to the region needed to be careful when driving on Goulburn Valley roads.

Two of the men involved in the collision at Mooroopna North were from Gippsland, while the woman seriously injured at Tallygaroopna was visiting Victoria.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Mr Winters said the best approach to road toll prevention was the education of young people.

He said RoadSafe Goulburn Valley previously focused on heavy vehicles and trucks, but had pivoted their attention to primary and high school students and young drivers in recent years.

“My focus has been more on youth, primary school aged children,” he said.

“Attitudes and behaviour play a big part in road safety.”

Bill Winters speaking at a school about road safety in the Goulburn Valley.

Ms O’Keeffe was adamant the roads needed more funding.

“I have urged the Minister for Roads and Road safety to reinstate critical road maintenance to address the appalling conditions of our unsafe roads and to also reinstate the road safety program funding,” she said.

“A staggering $230m has been cut in road safety programs this includes $150m reduction in the TAC funder safer system roads and infrastructure program, alongside an $81m shortfall in the TAC marketing and road safety budget over the past two years.

A three-way collision at a notorious Shepparton East intersection killed two young children in October 2023.

“It’s alarming that there has also been a 45 per cent reduction in road maintenance funding from 2020 and a further $88m reduction in the last budget.

“Our crumbling and unsafe condition of our roads is simply unacceptable.”

Ms O’Keeffe said the Goulburn Valley was in the midst of a “road safety crisis”.

“Immediate action must be taken to reverse this distressing trend,” she said.