A UNIQUE road safety partnership in South Australia between the Motor Accident Commission (MAC) and Limestone Coast Local Government Association (LCLGA) has been extended until June 2018.
The initial three year pilot that resourced a part time regional community road safety officer helped develop a strong partnership between the two organisations.
Rob Forgan will continue in the role.
He said arrangements were in place to continue to advance road safety and promote and raise awareness of MAC’s road safety initiatives within the Limestone Coast.
LCLGA executive officer Dom Testoni said the region’s seven member councils were thrilled to continue the pilot program for a further year.
“With MAC’s support, we can build on our achievements and continue to work alongside residents and road safety interests in the Limestone Coast community,” he said.
MAC road safety communications manager Matt Hanton said the partnership was helping to promote road safety to regional communities.
“Less than one third of the state’s population lives outside of Adelaide, yet on average 60pc of our road fatalities and 50pc of serious injuries occur in regional South Australia, this has a devastating impact on communities,” Mr Hanton said.
“Almost 70pc of these crashes involve regional residents, which shows the increased risks associated with country driving.
“Partnerships and initiatives such as this will ultimately help reduce death and serious injuries on our roads as we strive for our goal of towards zero deaths together.”
Mr Forgan said while 2016 showed a positive trend in road safety, the situation so far in 2017 highlighted there was absolutely no place for complacency.
“With a 30pc increase in the number of fatalities across country South Australia and metropolitan Adelaide, there is a very real need for everyone having an elevated awareness of road safety, taking steps right now to be safer drivers and making good decisions on our roads,” he said.
