RAC welcomes the announcement that a re-elected WA Labor Government will commit $125 million in funding to expanding the Regional Road Safety Program onto local government roads.
RAC General Manager External Relations Will Golsby said the funding is an important step in delivering safety treatments on local government roads, including widening, sealed shoulders, and audible centre and edge lines.
“RAC has continued to call out the need for a total of $552 million to be allocated to fund over 8,200 km of high speed sealed local government roads, including within forums such as the Premier’s Road Safety Summit, and across successive State and Federal budget submissions,” Mr Golsby said.
“Under the shadow of last year being the worst year for road trauma in almost a decade this funding announcement now provides the real opportunity to get this initiative up and running with the aim of saving lives and stopping serious injuries on roads across regional Western Australia.”
Between 2019 and 2023 more than 500 people lost their lives and over 2,700 were seriously injured on WA’s regional roads. Half of these crashes occurred on local government roads.
Apart from the immeasurable personal and social impacts, the financial cost of road trauma is estimated to be $2.4 billion per year.
“According to the WA Road Safety Commission, 75 per cent of people killed on regional roads live in the local shire or the shire next door, so the benefits of funding low-cost road safety solutions will be felt in local homes and communities,” Mr Golsby said.
“It’s now important that federal funding is secured alongside further investment from the state to ensure this initiative has certainty and is fully delivered,
"It is also critical the existing Regional Road Safety Program remains in place with the funding required to also see it through to completion.”
Funding these programs will assist with the delivery of Driving Change: A Road Safety Strategy for Western Australia 2020–2030 and the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30.
In addition they respond to Infrastructure Australia’s priority listing: Regional Road Network Safety Improvements, and also strongly align with other priority listings, including Regional and Rural WA Road Network Safety Improvements, and Road Access Improvements to Remote WA Communities.
ENDS
Media contact: RAC media team, 0401 703 719 or media@rac.com.au
