Road safety advocate and DECA founder Eric Montgomery dies
A “great man” with a “true passion for road safety”, a former Goulburn Valley police officer is being mourned by his community.
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Tributes are pouring in for a former Shepparton police officer with a passion for improving road safety.
Eric Montgomery, 83, died on August 16 after a health battle.
Born in Bendigo, Mr Montgomery joined the police force at 20 before he was transferred to Shepparton in 1962.
As a member of the highway patrol he attended hundreds of collisions each year, witnessing the number of lives lost and being tasked with the difficult job of breaking the news to the deceased’s family and friends.
After about 10 years of consistent exposure to road trauma, he became convinced it could not just be attributed to the road conditions or mechanical failures, but more commonly to driver error.
That planted the seed for an idea for a proactive initiative that could reduce the number of people injured or killed on the state’s roads.
In 1970, the number of lives lost on Victorian roads was 1061 and he began to feel his dream for an extensive road safety education program was crucial to curbing the trauma.
By the following year then-Constable Montgomery happened across local MP Peter Ross Edwards, whose government-issued car had broken down on the side of the road as he was travelling towards Melbourne.
He used the opportunity to share his dream of establishing a driver training centre at Shepparton and by 1972 he had shared his idea with other people in the field of road safety.
This included with Frank Harris – then a field officer for the National Safety Council – and Sergeant Arthur Mason from the Victoria Police driving school.
With their support a plan was created incorporating as many driving conditions as possible into a driving course and the idea was embraced by local government, schools and community groups.
Mr Montgomery – who eventually left the force to focus on the Driver Education Centre of Australia full time – drove it for almost 20 years from its initiation until May 1989.
His daughter, Camille, remembered her “dearest dad” as a “great man”.
She said her father “had a true passion for road safety” and teaching kids about it from an early age.
He developed and ran road safety programs covering a range of topics, including bike safety, for primary school aged children but the “biggest thrill” was when they were old enough to drive the careful cobber cars in grade 6.
DECA also ran defensive driving courses and courses for truck, bus and four wheel drivers.
Ms Montgomery remembers spending weekends at DECA with her dad and two siblings, Melissa and Simon, riding bikes and driving cobber cars.
But one of her best memories was Prince Charles and Princess Diana visiting the centre in 1985.
Though a young girl, she drove Princess Diana in a cobber car while Prince Charles drove himself in a special car made for the royal visit.
The royals were taught about road safety in a visit that Ms Montgomery described as “a really big deal for Shepparton”.
Other celebrity visitors included Peter Brock, Lindsay Fox and Dick Johnson.
After leaving DECA Mr Montgomery continued working in the road safety field, but was also well known for contributing to his community through his involvement with local CFA brigades and Rotary clubs.
People have begun posting tributes online upon hearing the news, with all speaking high praises of Mr Montgomery.
One person described him as a “great visionary” while another as a “pioneer in road safety and wanting to save lives through driver education”.
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