Wednesday, 14 August 2024

Economy and Infrastructure Committee

Inquiry into the Impact of Road Safety Behaviours on Vulnerable Road Users

Jess WILSON (Kew) (10:47): I rise to make a contribution on the Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users. The final report of this inquiry was tabled in May earlier this year following six public hearings and over 300 ‍submissions. As members of the committee we did hear some very disturbing evidence pointing to a deterioration of safety right across Victorian roads and in terms of safety standards following the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the evidence we heard did suggest that Victorian drivers’ behaviour worsened during and after the pandemic in terms of increased aggression, impatience, risk-taking and inattention. Most concerningly from the perspective of many of us on the committee was the amount of rule breaking that we saw post pandemic.

The report makes a number of high-priority recommendations, and I want to highlight several of these and their importance to the safety of the community in the electorate of Kew today. Recommendation ‍6 calls on the government to review the flexibility of speed zoning guidelines with the aim of reducing speeds around schools and activity centres. Hundreds of local residents have petitioned the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, who I am pleased is here at the table today, to reduce the speed limit at the Village Balwyn North shops, which is currently 60 kilometres an hour in a busy commercial hub close to several local primary schools and a large Greek Orthodox parish that sees many residents, particularly elderly residents, access that strip of road and cross that road. We have had local traders, local police, the council and schools all joining the campaign to reduce the speed limit to make the Village Balwyn North safer.

I am pleased to say that the minister has engaged on this issue and recently wrote to advise that in August – so at the moment – the government is looking at reducing speed limits and is particularly looking at the North Balwyn shops to see whether that can be reduced to a 40-kilometre speed zone. I really do urge the minister to consider the voices of the local community and of the local traders, who are doing it tough at the moment and are looking at how they can ensure that foot traffic remains active and that the local shoppers, traders and school students are safe when they do attend the Village North Balwyn. I urge the minister to put in place measures to reduce that speed zone to 40 kilometres an hour as soon as possible.

Recommendation 27 calls on the government to review the location of pedestrian crossings to ensure links to public transport stops, activity centres and schools are safe for people to travel across those roads and they can access those important public transport and commercial activity centres. I have written to the minister on behalf of local families to ask for the installation of a pedestrian crossing on Barkers Road in Kew. The stretch of road – Deputy Speaker, you may know it – is between Auburn Road and Glenferrie Road, on which there are a number of schools, kindergartens and cafes, and we see hundreds and hundreds of people cross that strip of road every day without a single pedestrian crossing between those major intersections. We have put out a petition, which has received over a thousand signatures from the local community, calling on the minister to put in place a pedestrian crossing.

Juliana Addison: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, I have been listening very carefully and had a lovely tour of the member for Kew’s electorate, but I am wondering what it has got to do with the committee report.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The point of order is?

Juliana Addison: I wonder about the relevance to the committee report.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member was speaking on road safety, which is in regard to the committee report. There is no point of order.

Jess WILSON: It being recommendation 27 in fact. I thank the member for Wendouree for her interruption, but the people of Kew are calling on the minister to install a pedestrian crossing. It is not a big ask when we have schools, kindergartens and cafes on that strip of road to look for people to be able to cross more safely to ensure that they can get to school and can cross and get to a local cafe in a safe and timely way.

Unfortunately, we have actually seen very recently a near miss at that strip of road when we saw a car crash into a local cafe and just very closely miss a young mum with her pram and two children. So it is very important that the minister takes into account the views of the local community, that we install this pedestrian crossing and, most importantly, that we implement the very important recommendations of this committee report in the electorate of Kew and right across Victoria.