Residents on Mernda street call for council action
A woman who lives on a Mernda road notorious for speeding says she is lucky to be alive after swapping shifts at work the night a “massive” crash happened. Locals are pleading for action against hoon drivers.
North
Don't miss out on the headlines from North. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Householders from Cravens Rd in Mernda say they fear someone might die if nothing is done to curb drivers speeding down their street.
Two incidents in the past month have led worried residents to start a petition calling for changes to be made to the road.
Ramanjoy Shergill, who has lived in Cravens Rd for six-years, said she felt lucky to be alive after swapping her shift at work on the night a “massive” accident happened.
“Normally I would get home from work between 11.30pm and 11.45pm and the night of this massive accident I swapped my shift which probably saved my life,” she said.
“A car was flying down the street and smashed into a parked car which made it travel about 25m away from where it was.
“It went into my uncle’s house, which was recently built. The car that hit the parked car rolled over.
“Luckily no one was badly hurt because no one was in the parked car, but if I hadn’t have swapped my shift that might have been my car that got hit.”
Ms Shergill said another accident had taken place on Cravens Rd, which is a 50km/h road, where a vehicle had smashed into a light pole which made the pole fall over and households in the street lost power.
“After their car hit the pole it spun and they ran away because they got scared,” she said.
“It’s meant to be 50km/h, but people treat it like a racecourse and do 80 or 90 down it all the time.
“Everyone that I have spoken to is considering writing a letter to the council to see if we can make changes, because it makes us all feel unsafe.”
On Thursday night, Ms Shergill started a petition on Change.org after residents in Cravens Rd, Regent St, Leonardo Drive and Bridge Inn Rd banded together.
She said she wasn’t trying to get people in trouble, but wanted speedsters to understand they were making residents, including young children, feel unsafe to even walk down their own street.
“If something happens, and there are schools around with lots of kids, you would live with the guilt for the rest of your life,” Ms Shergill said.
“When you’re driving, please be safe and considerate of people who live on the street and other drivers on the road, you would rather be five minutes late than put someone in an unsafe situation.”
Helen Sui, director city transport and presentation at Whittlesea Council, said they had received a number of concerns from residents about Cravens Rd.
“We have referred the intersection of Bridge Inn Rd and Cravens Rd for consideration in our application for Federal Accident Blackspot funding,” she said.
“We have also conducted traffic counts on Cravens Rd which show us that while more than 4000 vehicles travel the road each day, the average speed noted is 49km/h, with two reported crashes on the road.”
Ms Sui said a number of factors were taken into consideration when prioritising funding for traffic management.
“These include road design, numbers of vehicles travelling the road, speed and accident statistics,” she said.
MORE:
HOW SPORT IS CREATING LEADERS IN MORELAND
MELBOURNE AREA WHERE YOU CAN STEP FORWARD IN TIME
DEVASTATED DOG OWNER’S WARNING AFTER SNAKE BITE DEATH
“While the road network in the area is still being developed, there is no work currently scheduled for Cravens Rd.
“As we consider all roads annually, Cravens Rd may form part of our future planning for traffic management.”
Ms Sui said the council has notified police of concerns about hoon behaviour and is urging residents to report any hoon driving to police.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said they took a zero tolerance approach to any motorists who exceeded the speed limit or engaged in reckless activity that put themselves or others at risk.
“Those caught engaging in this type of behaviour can face a range of penalties, from traffic-related infringements to criminal charges,” she said.
“Officers regularly conduct visible patrols to target hooning across all communities.
“Anyone with information on hoon activity is urged to make a report to their local police station or anonymously through the Crime Stoppers Hoon Hotline on 1800 333 000.”
As of Thursday 4pm, the petition had 63 signatures.