Government welcomes vulnerable road users report

The Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee investigated changes to road users’ behaviour during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and how this affected the safety of people most at risk on the road, such as pedestrians, bike riders and motorcyclists. These road users made up 36% of all lives lost on Victorian roads in 2023 and 47% in 2022.   
 
The Committee’s final report was tabled in May 2024. 
 
In its response the government welcomed the report and supported 54 of the recommendations, 17 in full, 25 in principle and 12 in part.   
 
The government response noted that Victoria's growing population places added pressure on the road transport network and increased exposure to the potential for road trauma. 
 
‘To accommodate safe and sustainable growth, we know we need to increase active and public transport as a mode share. This means we must also work even harder to better protect the unprotected (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists) and our most vulnerable - children, older people and those with a disability,’ the response said 
 
The Committee recommended the government adopt a ‘road user hierarchy’ where road users who can do the most harm to others have a duty of care to reduce the danger they pose to more vulnerable road users.  
 
In its written response the government supported this recommendation ‘in principle’ and committed to investigating the UK approach to road safety highlighted in the Committee’s final report.  
 
‘The Victorian Government notes the Committee's finding of the UK Highway Code introduced in 2022 which prioritises and guides road users based on their level of vulnerability in traffic. Department of Transport and Planning will work with the road safety partners to investigate this approach for a Victorian context,’ it said.  
 
The Committee recommended the Department of Transport and Planning educate the public on the need for slower speed zones to protect vulnerable road users. 

The government fully supported that recommendation, writing that it would ‘continue efforts to raise awareness and understanding of the role speed plays in road safety, to help increase acceptance of the benefits of safer speeds for all road users’. 
 
'DTP receives a significant volume of requests from local councils and communities to reduce speed limits each year, and this figure is growing. This trend suggests that local communities are increasingly embracing lower speeds to help achieve safer neighbourhoods and improved liveability - especially around schools and activity centres.’