AMBULANCE Victoria data on rural road emergencies highlights the deteriorating state of regional roads and the parallel spike in serious road trauma.
The Nationals’ Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath said the parlous state of rural and regional roads is a hot topic for her constituents.
“It’s no surprise to locals that there has been an increase in serious injuries sustained from vehicle crashes in rural areas - our regional roads are shockingly neglected by the State Government. said Ms Bath.
“There has been an alarming surge in the number of Ambulance Victoria Code 1 rural road emergencies.
“Ambulance Victoria’s annual report shows it attended 121,551 Code 1 road emergencies in rural Victoria last financial year – that’s a shocking 38.5 per cent increase in only four years.
“The flow on effect of increasing road crashes is additional pressure on our already overstretched ambulance services and hospital emergency departments.
“Labor cannot ignore the fact that these country crashes are occurring at a disproportionate rate compared to metropolitan Melbourne.”
Ms Bath said there’s no amount of spin that can hide the fact Labor has almost abandoned road maintenance, while completed works are failing in no time.
“Road maintenance works in regional Victoria plummeted a staggering 95 per cent last financial year under the State Government, leaving surfaces plagued by potholes, crumbling shoulders and overgrown reserves.
“The South Gippsland highway at Lang Lang is a prime example, it’s been patched and failed more times than locals care to imagine in the past 18 months.
“While urgent road safety upgrades such as the Phillip Island Road, San Remo; Leongatha Heavy Vehicle Bypass and duplication of Princes Way between Warragul and Drouin continue to be ignored.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage our roads and regional Victorians are paying the price.”
Our roads are an international embarrassment
WHEN the Chinese government and undertakers are warning about the state of Victoria’s roads, it is clear we have a major problem.
Last week, the Chinese consulate general implored Chinese tourists to avoid driving by themselves and painted a bleak picture of our roads network.
The warning to Chinese tourists was stark: “Roads in Victoria are winding and some sections of them are not in good condition”.
Iconic funeral business Tobin Brothers has gone as far as warning drivers about potholes and the dangers of our roads in an advertising campaign.
The Liberals and Nationals raised Victoria’s crumbling roads network, and the latest embarrassing warnings, in Question Time in Parliament last week.
The Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne, dodged and weaved when asked: “Why has the State Government let our roads deteriorate so badly that foreign tourists are now being warned not to drive on them?”
The Minister could not provide an answer.
There was also no answer forthcoming when the Minister was asked: “With foreign governments and undertakers warning about the dire condition of Victorian roads, will the Government now admit it has failed Victorian motorists?”
Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Danny O’Brien, said Victorians deserved answers.
“Our roads have become an international embarrassment and undertakers are sending out warnings, yet the State Government refuses to take action or accept accountability,” Mr O’Brien said.
