Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): I am grateful to have the chance today to contribute to the Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. I have to admit I was steeling myself a little bit for this debate; on a topic like road safety there are always so many heartbreaking personal stories. Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy. Every life lost leaves behind a family, children, parents, partners and workmates whose lives will forever be impacted by grief. Every serious injury represents a life transformed, sometimes beyond recognition, by disability and trauma.
Victoria has led the nation and indeed the globe when it comes to road safety. We were the first state in the world to introduce mandatory seatbelts in 1970, and we led Australia in legislating random breath testing in 1978 and the introduction of speed cameras in 1986, when I was born. Many of our hard-hitting prevention initiatives have been adopted internationally. As a result, over the decades we have made our roads safer for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists and seen a substantive reduction in lives cut tragically short. However, the heartbreaking reality is that we continue to count the road toll each year—last year that was 232 people who did not come home. For this government there is no number of lives lost on our roads that would or can be acceptable. It is why we must always and continuously work towards zero.
Here in Victoria we have a road safety strategy which aims to reduce the road toll by 50 per cent by 2030 and that puts us on the path to eliminating road deaths by 2050. The amendments contained in this bill contribute to this important work. Improving road safety is a complex job. It involves all levels of government, multiple agencies and departments, and there are a number of interconnecting and powerful tools that we can leverage as a government to reduce the road toll and support Victorians impacted by road incidents. At the heart of our work is promoting a culture of safe road usage through our licensing system and education initiatives.
Ultimately we each have a responsibility when we get behind the wheel to follow road rules and drive to the conditions. In those split-second decisions we need people to do the right thing. But sometimes they do not, and we know that. In 2021, 31 people died while not wearing a seatbelt. In 2020 an investigation found one in 42 drivers to be illegally using their mobile phones while driving, with the real number expected to be much higher. Driver distraction is said to account for about 24 lives lost each year and over 400 serious injuries. These numbers are substantial. What they represent in terms of lives, families and trauma cannot even be quantified. Those few moments with our attention away from the road can have devastating consequences. It is why our road rules system and its enforcement are life-saving aspects of our work to end road deaths, and it is why this bill makes amendments to improve compliance.
The bill makes changes to support the use of new automated detection cameras which can detect drivers using mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts. Our government has already committed around $34 million over five years to roll out these cameras, and these legislative reforms mean that the images they collect can be used as evidence. The logic behind this is nothing new. Automated camera-based enforcement, in conjunction with police enforcement, is already working in Victoria to address other high-risk behaviour, like speeding and red light running. The data shows that 99 per cent of people passing road safety cameras do follow the road rules and that the cameras do deter dangerous driving. In terms of cameras detecting mobile phone and seatbelt use, the Monash University Accident Research Centre has estimated they could prevent 95 casualty crashes per year. That is 95 lives saved, 95 families that do not have to suffer the horror of their loved one not coming home. Cameras work.
Any argument that this is just a revenue-raising exercise not only is deeply cynical but totally misses the point. Fines are an effective deterrent, and people are only fined if they are breaking the law and putting people at risk. As with other camera-detected road safety offences, drivers will have options to seek a review of any fine issued by the new cameras. We will also be partnering with the TAC on community awareness campaigns, and the first three months of operation will see warning letters sent to people caught on camera. The bill also improves safety on our roads by addressing gaps in the current legislation, adding hit-and-run and other serious offences to the list of offences that may trigger immediate licence suspension or disqualification.
Road safety is something that my community are very conscious of. In the inner north our suburbs are a mix of local streets, cycling paths, two train lines, two tramlines, buses and major arterials into and out of the city. There are significant needs in terms of balancing the various users of our roads and paths, and scarcely a week goes by when my office is not contacted about things like speed limits, maintenance, pedestrian crossings, footpaths, intersections and parking. Many of these issues come under the responsibility of local government, and several have been points of contention between me and council as I have sought to encourage them to listen and to act on the feedback of residents. It does not always end up that way.
Since coming into government in 2014 this government has invested more than $34 billion to build new roads and make our existing roads safer, as well as $1.7 billion in road safety initiatives. Locally that includes our glorious Chandler Highway bridge, which now extends majestically over the Yarra, with six lanes instead of two, giving relief, safety and precious time back to the 44 000 drivers crossing it every day. Up in Thornbury we have seen critical improvements in pedestrian safety along Normanby Avenue, with new solar-powered electronic speed signs which flash during peak school hours, reminding drivers to slow down. In Alphington and Fairfield there are big improvements to cycling infrastructure. Our trial bike lanes on Heidelberg Road are in place, and I look forward to hearing more feedback and data about them; VicRoads has installed new wayfinding signage and road markings around St Georges Road, Station Street and Victoria Road; and we are in the process of finally connecting Alphington to the Darebin Yarra Trail.
When it comes to road safety my philosophy is that locals know best. They use our roads daily and they know where the pinch points are. I have been extremely grateful to be able to work closely with many residents in my community to identify and secure improvements. Recently this included the Bell Street bridge in Coburg. Over the past year I have been working with locals to raise awareness of the safety risks to road users and pedestrians along this bridge and its surrounds. The Bell Street bridge precinct is a high traffic area with six lanes of arterial road incorporating two intersections at Elizabeth and Nicholson streets, slip lanes, a tram terminal and a crossing bridge. There are narrow footpaths, sloped guttering, uneven surfaces and a lack of barriers separating pedestrians and vehicles—all contributing to a heightened sense of risk. A local petition calling for a safety review has garnered over 1300 signatures, and this year residents and I were successful in pushing for some really important initial safety improvements. This includes dragon’s teeth markings and slow-down line markings to provide visual cues to drivers to slow down and keep to the centre of the lanes. We have also installed new pedestrian warning signs on approach to let people know this area requires high alert for motorists. There is more to do in this precinct to make it modern and accessible, and last month I brought the Minister for Roads and Road Safety out to take a look himself. I am looking forward to building on our collective efforts here.
Of course we cannot speak about road safety without reference to our extraordinary program of level crossing removals. This has been a massive success in Grange Road in Alphington, and we have four more underway in Preston that will make our roads, footpaths and cycling paths safe and accessible for everyone. I look forward to supporting even more dangerous level crossings being removed in Northcote.
Before I close I would like to turn just to the final amendments in this bill, namely improvements to the TAC system to better support Victorians when they and their families have been in an accident. Victoria’s transport accident insurance scheme already provides world-leading care and support to victims of road trauma, but those with lived experience have identified ways we can improve the system, and we have listened. In addition to some changes to the administration of the scheme, the bill addresses some anomalies and inequalities. It increases the age of a dependent child from 16 to 18, expands the definition of ‘immediate family’ to include grandchildren and provides children who lose both parents in one accident the same compensation as those who lose them in separate accidents. It also ensures those who have done the wrong thing do not derive benefit from their actions, so someone who has been convicted of murder, manslaughter, culpable or dangerous driving causing death or child homicide cannot access dependency benefits or compensation. We are also better protecting Victorians by increasing the level of deemed lost earnings for older workers and those whose preaccident earnings capacity cannot be determined. This is an important bill that will save lives and make our roads safer for everyone. I commend the bill to the house and wish it a speedy passage.
