Elsie Lange
Macedon Ranges Highway Patrol is backing calls for motorists to be mindful of young pedestrians on the road this summer.
Sergeant Lee Clayton reiterated warnings from children’s road safety campaigners, the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation, for drivers to slow down, be vigilant and save lives.
“We just want to encourage everybody that if they are going to be moving around our state, to be mindful of their behaviours on the road, to manage their fatigue, to manage their trips, to take this opportunity to actually have their vehicle [looked at],” Sergeant Clayton said.
He also said “all too often” drivers who were otherwise very careful on the road overlooked the importance of having a mechanic check their tyres and windscreens, and to check their caravans or trailers as well.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s deaths in Australia data, released in June this year, land transport crashes were the leading cause of death for children aged one to 14.
The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation said between 2012 to 2021,422 children under 15 had been involved in a crash, with 28 per cent of the fatalities occurring when the child was a pedestrian.
University of New South Wales’ Transport and Road Safety Research Centre emeritus professor Ann Williamson said research showed as a nation, Australia was not making “much impact” on reducing child road fatalities.
“[Highlighted by] the number of fatal crashes involving children 0 to 14 years not having changed greatly over the last decade,” she said.
She said there was “a hazardous combination of factors” which made the coming Christmas period the most unsafe on roads in recent years.
“Complacency can kill and there is concern that after years of reduced holiday travel on our roads, many will be less prepared, less aware and less cautious,” she said.
“This, combined with the pattern of no significant reduction in child road fatalities over the last 10 years, could have tragic implications.”
Sergeant Clayton said it was vital that drivers “[assumed] that all children are still children and are unpredictable”.
“If drivers take that approach whenever they are traversing our roads … we will be able to make a positive impact towards the reduction in trauma and fatalities involving young people,” he said.
