As the region braces for the traditionally bad Christmas road toll, one Corangmaite councillor is stepping up his drive to make it safer for motorists.
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Cr Simon Illingworth, who is also a former policeman, said the situation along the Great Ocean Road with international tourists appeared to be getting worse
“Everyone is bracing themselves because we know that Christmas is a bad time of the year,” Cr Illingworth said.
However, he said having more cars on the road over the busy Christmas period was a “saving grace” because it gave tourists a visual reminder to keep to the left side of the road.
“It’s bedlam at the moment and it appears to be getting worse,” he said.
Mr Illingsworth said that in the past 14 months there had been 34 people involved in major collisions in the region. “There’s been two buses, a truck, there’s been head-on and there’s been two people dead,” he said.
“I’ve been pushing and pushing to get this thing acknowledge in the lead up to the election. Neither party has actually promised any funding for any changes and that in my view is very disappointing.”
Mr Illingworth wants ‘Keep Left’ stickers put in all hire cars as a reminder for international tourists, particularly when they’re on roads when there isn’t a lot of traffic, and driver instruction booklets printed in different languages.
He also wants changes to the law to give police power to impound a car when it is clear the driver is incapable of having proper control of the vehicle or doesn’t understand the road rules.
Mr Illingworth has also called for more money to improve the roads that lead inland from the Great Ocean Road back to highway.
He said improved signage at tourist sites would also prevent visiting drivers from slamming on the breaks when they realise they have arrived. “There’s enormous amount of car accidents from these exits and entrances to these places,” he said.
In the past six months arrows have been painted on the region’s roads, but Mr Illingworth said it didn’t seem to be working as well as they had hoped and more needed to be done.
He said the locals had been traumatised by the number of accidents and were now on edge when they took to the road.
“When you’re going around a sweeping bend on the Great Ocean Road, you shouldn’t have to be concerned that you’re going to have to slam the breaks on because someone is coming towards you on the same side,” he said.
He called on Vic Roads and the Traffic Accident Commission to acknowledge there was a problem.
