By Pam Kiriakidis
A health promotion charity Victoria Walks is calling for political action to address the rise of pedestrian deaths in Victoria in 2022.
This year 41 people have died while walking in Victoria – an increase from the five-year average figure of 29 for this time of year.
The only pedestrian death in the Mitchell Shire so far this year was a 13-year-old boy who was struck by a car in the driveway of a Wallan home in October.
Seymour Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Andrew Wright said pedestrians shoud always be cautious but driver deaths were a greater issue in the Mitchell Shire.
“We don’t see that spike in Mitchell [with pedestrian deaths] – that’s just the spike across the state [and] thankfully we are not seeing that image,” he said.
“It’s more about being aware of your surroundings, just because you’re walking on the road doesn’t mean the cars going to give way.
“That shows why pedestrians need to be paying attention as well, because if the driver is not paying attention, and the pedestrian is not paying attention … [this can be dangeous].”
Act Sgt Wright said the increase of drivers deaths, with six fatalities in the Mitchell Shire this year was more of a focus for police.
He said the spike in driver deaths were cauesd by several factors, including environment, fatigue, irresponsbile driving and distractions.
“Once I start breaking it down, it’s interesting to see who you’re looking at and who may be involved, so majority are occurring in speed zones of 100 and 110, and there’s a little bit of distraction and lack of seatbelt wearing involved in a couple of them as well,” he said.
“The main things we’re looking at is driver distraction and inattention, that could be coming down to fatigue as well, so all the sudden they’re going to start driving long distances or further than they have over the last 12 months.”
Act Sgt Wright said road users and pedestrians should be mindful in the following weeks when there would be more travellers, and higher use of drugs and alcohol during Christmas and New Year period.
“There’ll be obviously the increase over Christmas in relation to alcohol and drug use, and try and reduce that as much as possible, if not, stop it altogether, and making sure everyone in the cars got a seatbelt on,” he said.
Transport Accident Commission statistics show eight road deaths in the City of Whittlesea this year, with four drivers and four motorcylists killed; and in the Macedon Ranges there has been one cyclist and two motorcylists who have died.
Victoria Walks is campaigning political parties to create a $600m Safer Street fund in the next term of government to address the increase in pedestrian deaths, particularly across metropolitan Melbourne.
Executive officer Ben Rossiter said the fund would provide safer infrastructure such as crossings over major roads, upgraded signals and footpaths, better street lighting and traffic calming on streets close to schools, shops and public transport.
“We should not wait until people are killed to make our streets safer for walking,” Dr Rossiter said.
“Victoria Police record drivers as offending in 46 per cent of crashes involving people who are walking, and the cause of a further 18 per cent of crashes is unknown.
“Government action and investment must focus on creating road environments that help drivers avoid collisions with more vulnerable road users.”
