SEPTEMBER is Rural Road Safety Month, with figures released from 2024 showing a renewed focus on road safety is needed in Local Government Areas (LGA) after recording increased death and injury numbers from its regular yearly average.
From 284 lives lost between drivers and pedestrians in 2024, Mitchell Shire recorded significantly increased numbers compared to the average across the last decade, while also seeing serious injury numbers and severe hospitalisation injuries increase too.
The 2024 Road Trauma in Victoria Statistical Summary, released in August, revealed seven people died in the Mitchell Shire Local Government Area in 2024, from 4.1 people on average yearly from numbers recorded in 2014-2023, a concerning increase of 2.9 people.
Concerning numbers were also recorded in the neighbouring City of Whittlesea council, with eight people losing their lives in 2024, up 3.5 people from the yearly average of 4.5 people across the last decade.
Macedon Ranges also saw an increase on previous years, with six people losing their lives in 2024, up 2.4 people from the yearly average of 3.6 from 2014-23.
All three LGAs also had concerning increases in the number of serious injuries compared to the last decade’s numbers.
Whittlesea recorded the sixth most serious injuries in the state with 179, trailing Geelong, Casey, Melbourne, Hume and Dandenong councils, an increase of the average yearly number of 164.4 over the last decade.
Mitchell Shire saw 75 serious injuries in 2024, an increase of 10.8 on the last decade on average, while Macedon Ranges had 67 serious injuries, which was an increase from 60.6 over the last decade.
In terms of serious injuries which required hospitalisation, Macedon Ranges had some respite in this area compared to the last decade, with nine for 2024, which was a reduction of 2.9 people over the last decade.
There was still concerning numbers for Whittlesea, however, which recorded the third biggest increase compared to the last decade’s average in 2024 with 35 hospitalisations, which was up 12.8 on the previous decade.
Mitchell Shire had an increase of 6.4 people hospitalised, recording 16 across 2024.
The theme of Rural Road Safety Month is Step Up for Road Safety, which urges people to plan events or activities to spread awareness of road safety in rural regions and starting conversations.
The most common cause of fatalities in regional Victoria was running off the road in 2024, an increase of 21.3 per cent on numbers recorded from 2014-23, with 77 recorded for the year.
