Hundreds of signatures supporting the push to drop the speed limit through Learmonth to 60kmh have been tabled in parliament.
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Regional development minister and state member for western Victoria Jaala Pulford tabled the petitions last week, giving hope to locals that the speed limit will soon be dropped to improve safety throughout the town.
The campaign to drop the limit from 80kmh to 60kmh began just two days after Shirlene Laurie bought her daughter Justyce Taylor, 10, home from the Royal Children’s Hospital four weeks after being hit by a car on the Sunraysia Highway.
A car travelling at the signposted 80kmh limit struck Justyce on June 21 when her bike hit a wet patch of grass and skidded on to the highway, leaving her with life-changing injuries.
“There’s no town where there’s people, school children, milk bar, cafes and community that should have a speed limit over 60kmh through the centre of town,” Ms Laurie said.
Ms Laurie and community representatives have met with Ms Pulford, roads minister Luke Donnellan, other local MPs and candidates over the past few weeks to present their case for a speed reduction.
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“We will do the work with the local community, we will do the work with our road safety experts and in short, we'll do what actually needs to be done to protect people in that town,” Mr Donnellan said.
“We'll work to look at what we need to do to make that town safer, but if it is a speed reduction, we'll do that,” he said.
Labor candidate for Ripon Sarah De Santis has been working closely with the Learmonth campaigners.
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“We've seen an almost fatal accident earlier this year with a young girl of 10, who was hit by a car. The motorist wasn't doing anything wrong, the child wasn't doing anything wrong, but the consequence of that has meant the Learmonth community has rallied around this child and the child's family, and really lobbied us - me as a candidate and the government - to have a speed reduction throughout the township of Learmonth,” she said.
“Community safety is always first and foremost, and we'd love to do all that we can to help that community achieve their goals.”
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