Pedestrian safety blitz

ERIN PEARSON
ROADSAFE Barwon is urging pedestrians to look left and right before crossing the road to prevent unnecessary injury and death.
Recently-released provisional road toll statistics showed pedestrians accounted for 50 fatalities in 2011 up 28 per cent, according to chair Rod Bennett.
Mr Bennett said road accidents involving pedestrians across the Geelong region was an “ongoing” problem.
He said laziness and impatience were the biggest causes.
“People seem to have a real lack of respect for the road rules here at times,” Mr Bennett said.
“We are taught as children to look left and right so I’d really encourage parents to help pass on the message also.”
Victorian Deputy Police Commissioner Kieran Walshe said the force would focus on vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, in 2012.
Mr Walshe, head of Road Policing, said an analysis of pedestrian deaths in 2011 showed 40 per cent of pedestrians killed were aged 30 to 59.
Males ranked higher accounting for 64 per cent but elderly pedestrians marked the biggest rise with 13 of those killed aged over 80, an 86 per cent increase.
The majority of pedestrians killed were at fault, Mr Walshe said.
“We are looking at what we can do to raise awareness of pedestrian safety.
“We know there are issues with people rushing to catch public transport or looking down at mobile phones, tablet computers, MP3 players and other devices.
“But we also have identified an issue with our older community members being over-represented in this road trauma, and we will need to look at the causal factors behind this.”
Last year 288 people lost their lives on Victorian roads.
Transport Accident Commission Road Safety Manager, Samantha Cockfield called on all Victorian’s to make a New Year’s resolution to help reduce the road toll.
She said while TAC and its partner road safety agencies would continue to work on improving the safety of cars and roads, all Victorians had an important role to play in improving driver and pedestrian behaviour.