THE tragic death of a Shepparton man on Friday, April 26 on the Goulburn Valley Highway has further evidenced the danger of delaying repairs to wire rope safety barriers.
Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell brought the attention to the issue of unrepaired wire rope safety barriers in February, saying that the State Government was “dangerously behind” on scheduled maintenance.
The VicRoads Road Management Plan requires a response to missing or broken safety barriers on major regional roads within 30 days, to either inspect and rectify them, or provide an appropriate warning.
However, residents who travel these roads daily report that there are sections where the barriers have been down for months, and no repairs have been done.
The Victorian Government told ABC Radio that repairs were set for March, including along the Midland Highway near Mooroopna, but it is almost May and repair works have not begun.
Now a driver has died on Goulburn Valley Highway after police say his ute crossed to the wrong side of the road and hit a tree, after going over a downed rope barrier that was damaged by a previous accident and had not been repaired.
Prior to installation, the Government claimed that wire rope safety barriers were necessary to reduce deaths on rural and regional roads. But Ms Lovell said rope safety barriers will only remain effective if they are maintained.
“The rural road death toll is climbing higher, and the Labor government must take road safety more seriously,” said Ms Lovell. “The government must act urgently to repair safety barriers that were damaged months ago, before more lives are lost on rural and regional roads.”
The latest Transport Accident Commission figures show there have already been 56 road deaths in regional and rural Victoria this year, on track to match the tragic toll of 2023 when 295 lives were lost on Victorian roads – a 22 per cent increase on 2022 and a 15-year high.
