Mitchell Shire Council’s approach to road safety was recognised at the 2022 National Awards for Local Government, with its school crossing SafetyCam initiative awarded.
The initiative received the Road Safety Award, which acknowledges local government projects that address road safety for vulnerable groups or specific road-user risk factors.
After several reports of speeding, failing to stop and abusing crossing supervisors, council installed cameras at selected crossings to keep students, parents and other crossing users safe, and will install more at the end of the year.
The cameras are set up on posts each day by crossing supervisors using brackets created by Broadford’s Men Shed.
Incident footage is downloaded from the camera and passed on to local police as required. Signs were also be installed to alert drivers to the cameras.
Mayor Bill Chisholm said the project to improve road safety was a significant initiative for other local government areas to recognise and follow.
“While we didn’t do this for awards, it’s great to see this safety initiative getting recognised and hopefully being implemented in other local government areas,” he said.
“This project was a team effort between the community and council, and we’re pleased to see it already having some positive impact on driver behaviour.
“Most drivers do the right thing, but these cameras are a great tool for stopping the minority that endanger parents, students and crossing supervisors.”
