Slow down on country roads

You don’t have to be speeding to be going too fast on country roads. This is the important message of a new country roads safety campaign starting this week in south east NSW and the ACT.

The campaign will use radio ads, social media and road signage to urge drivers to slow down and drive to conditions.

Eurobodalla is one of nine local councils participating in the campaign, and Mayor Lindsay Brown wants drivers to heed the call.

“Speeding remains the greatest cause of death and injury on our roads, contributing to about 40 per cent of NSW road fatalities. Two-thirds of these deaths occur on country roads,” he said.

“Country people have a fatality rate more than four times that of city dwellers when it comes to road accidents, and the majority of these are ‘run off road’ type crashes.

“We have evidence that suggests local and visiting motorists are not slowing down and considering the environment they are driving in,” Clr Brown said. “As a joint force, councils can have a real impact by getting a common message out over a large geographical area - a message backed by our local police,” Clr Brown said.

Representatives from participating councils, ACT government, and NSW and ACT Police attended the campaign launch on the ACT-NSW border on Monday.

While the campaign focusses on driver education, drivers will also notice an increased police presence on local country roads.

“We need to remind local drivers to slow down and drive to the conditions,” says Sergeant Angus Duncombe from Batemans Bay Highway Patrol.

“Driving to the conditions may mean driving slower than the sign posted speed limit. Country road conditions can change very quickly, and there is also the risk of unexpected hazards such as kangaroos and livestock on country roads,” he said.

The Country Roads Safety campaign is funded by the NRMA ACT Road Safety Trust, and timed to correspond with several NSW Police operations over Easter and NSW April school holidays.

The nine participating councils are Eurobodalla, Goulburn-Mulwaree, Gundagai, Palerang, Queanbeyan, Snowy River, Tumbarumba, Tumut and Yass Valley.