Compulsory road safety tests, bigger and better signage and cutting driver fatigue are among the ideas in a new report aimed to reduce road trauma on the region’s tourist routes.
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Compiled by former police officer and Port Campbell resident Simon Illingworth after 12 months of investigation and interviews, the report gathers examples and offers possible solutions.
Mr Illingworth said he had been approached by senior police to develop the report in an effort to reduce fatalities and serious crashes on the Great Ocean Road and surrounding areas.
“Many of the solutions are easily fixed and inexpensive, especially considering the cost of the current mayhem,” he said.
Among the recommendations is that people with an international licence should complete an online road safety test before being approved to hire a car as “another hurdle to jump” before drivers can get behind the wheel.
Mr Illingworth said hire car companies could also be encouraged to offer a professional driver with a hire car.
Road safety videos also had to be “harder edged” and encourage tourists and travel agents to set realistic schedules.
“Some holiday plans have tourists arriving after a 10-15 hour flight, immediately hiring a car, driving the Great Ocean Road, visiting the Twelve Apostles and driving back to Melbourne without a break or rest,” the report states.
Tourists were also being scheduled to visit the Twelve Apostles and Phillip Island in the one day, it states.
“It is apparent that many tourists concentrate on how many iconic sites they can visit, rather than having a relaxing trip.”
The report said the more fatigued a driver became, the more likely muscle memory would kick in and they could end up driving on the wrong side of the road.
The report also recommends a blood alcohol content of .00 for people driving on an international licence and it reiterated a previous call by Mr Illingworth for new impound laws to seize vehicles being driven on the wrong side of the road.
It also calls for road upgrades to “loop roads from Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell to include wider road shoulders, turn-off areas and better signage to keep international drivers on the correct side of the road”.
Recommendations:
- An online road safety test should be formulated and passed before payment is made to book a car from overseas.
- Encourage hire car companies to value add by offering a professional driver with a hire car.
- Adjusting to another country’s laws, roads and signage is difficult. All international drivers should have a BAC of .00 to avoid any level of impairment.
- A harder-edged road safety video that emphasises the risk of head-on crashes and driver fatigue.
- Provide regular drinking fountains, shelters and toilet stops at main Great Ocean Road locations to prevent heat distress.
- Bollards or perhaps less obvious but just as effective obstructions like bluestone guttering and seat placement should be considered in main streets in an effort to stop vehicles from entering footpaths and other pedestrian areas.
- Set up a system to ensure unpaid fines are linked with departure. Remove the ‘30 day payment option’ on fines and replace with “prior to departure” for overseas tourists.
- Driver fatigue – Travel agents and tourists must be educated as to realistic time frames and distances when travelling in Australia.
- Erect prominent “keep left” reminder signs, “keep left” stickers in hire cars and more signs on inland routes.
- Increase visibility, size and lead-up signage to turn offs to iconic and other tourists sites.
- Impound laws would allow police to seize and impound any vehicle being driven on the wrong side of the road, drivers disqualified until they can pass a VicRoads driver test.
- Upgrade the loop roads from Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell to include wider road shoulders, turn off areas and better signage to keep international drivers on the correct side of the road.
The report follows a state government announcement In December that it would be rolling out a new road safety campaign targeting visiting drivers.
Modelled on a successful program in New Zealand, the program has support from major rental companies and will distribute safety messages through bi-lingual videos, digital advertising, social media and promotional materials in hire vehicles.
The Great Ocean Road also remains a focus for police, with highway patrol Sergeant Dean Greenwood telling The Standard that a two-month operation nabbed more than 220 drivers speeding on the road near Port Campbell.
“I would ask motorists to take care and be extra vigilant on the Great Ocean Road because we know that area is frequented by not only tourists from interstate but international tourists who perhaps aren’t as familiar with the local road network as other drivers,” he said.