Victorian business leaders and local governments are being called upon by the Victorian Road Safety Partnership alliance to help stamp out road trauma.
On May 1, the alliance will host a symposium, Towards Zero Road Safety Leadership, at which it will seek the help of community leaders to achieve its goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads.
Chief executive officers from Whittlesea and Hume councils have been invited to the Australia-first event, along with other local council CEOs and heads of major corporate organisations.
The conference is modelled on a Swedish initiative that has helped the Scandinavian nation consistently achieve one of the lowest road tolls in the world.
Victorian road safety partners – the Transport Accident Commission, Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Department of Justice – will host the conference, which will focus on the state government’s philosophy on road safety, The Safe System.
The ‘system’ is based on the premise that whole communities take responsibility for road safety. TAC chief executive officer Janet Dore says community leaders have an important role to play. “We have the knowhow and the technology to significantly reduce the 6000 serious injuries we see each year,” she said.
International experts at the symposium will include Dutch professor Fred Wegman, who has been at the forefront of ‘safe system’ research, and Sweden’s Anders Lie, an expert on research into achieving zero fatalities on the roads. Trauma surgeon at The Alfred hospital and director of the National Trauma Research Institute, Russell Gruen, will discuss the urgent need to reduce serious injuries.
Last week, Victoria Police launched its “Road to Zero – it starts with you” campaign to encourage everyone to aim for zero deaths and zero serious injuries on Victorian roads.
Throughout April, May and June, police will blitz the state’s roads with operations aimed at improving driver behaviour and enforcing road rules.
The symposium will be at Melbourne’s RACV Club.
