A leading road safety advocate continues to call for more early education about road safety, following a number of fatalities across Victoria this week, including the death of a woman in Dereel on Friday morning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It comes in the same week when The Courier collated and analysed road fatality statistics recorded by the Transport Accident Commission, between January 1, 1987 and May 23, 2023.
In that time period, there were 181 fatalities in the Ballarat region, 188 in the Moorabool Shire, 131 in the Golden Plains Shire, 81 in the Pyrenees Shire and 77 in the Hepburn Shire.
The statistics revealed drivers were the most common road user to be killed in crashes in each local government area - followed by passengers, motorcyclists and pedestrians.
Road safety advocate Donald Gibb said he is not surprised.
"The fact is, the drivers and the passengers - wherever it is - they're the main problems," he said.
However, Mr Gibb said the location of roads could also play a part in serious and fatal accidents.
He said country and rural roads were in far worse condition than in cities or towns.
The statistics show incidents involving vehicles travelling in the opposing direction and off of a straight or curved road were, in most of the LGAs, consistent with driving on smaller and often neglected country and rural roads - such as in the Moorabool, Pyrenees, Hepburn and Golden Plains shires.
In contrast, Ballarat's highest crash type involved vehicles travelling in an adjacent direction and pedestrians - which is consistent with city conditions.
"Country roads ... that's where the problems are," Mr Gibb said. "That's where the high speeds are.
"The variations are enormous. The roads are so narrow and so badly engineered. The quality control of road repairs is non-existent."
READ MORE:
Ballarat's John Maher, whose daughter Carmen was killed in a crash in 1995, believes speed and fatigue on country roads are a contributing factor.
"A power nap will save your life," Mr Maher said.
"On country roads, power naps should be a key to your driving.
"(Drivers) can tend to put the foot down. If you make one mistake and you run off the road there is a great likelihood that you will be really, seriously injured or you will lose your life."
The most common day of the week for a fatal crash to have occurred in Ballarat was a Thursday, followed by Friday and Saturday.
When it came to the time of day, the majority of fatalities in the Ballarat, Moorabool and Golden Plains local government areas were geared towards the mid-afternoon to early night-time period.
The TAC data also provided insight into hospitalisation claims, between January 2000 and October 2022. Ballarat had 1863 claims, with males making up the majority in each local government area.
Patients who stayed in hospital for 14 days or less outnumbered stays of more than 14 days in all areas, except for the Pyrenees Shire.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
