By KATH GANNAWAY
LOWERING the speed limit on two major roads travelled by Yarra Ranges residents, will hopefully save lives.
In April, VicRoads announced a 10-kilometre section of the Goulburn Valley Highway between Molesworth and Yea would have its speed limit lowered.
Over the past five years 11 crashes occurred on the stretch of highway, resulting in the death of eight people and serious injuries to 13 people.
The death of Yarra Glen mum Kelly Crowley and her son Ethan, in March, sparked further calls for the speed to be lowered.
The stretch of Healesville-Kooweerup Road at Yellingbo where 19-year-old Sharmaine Blyth lost her life on 19 April, has also had its speed limit lowered.
The crash in which Sharmaine died was the fourth serious crash in six months on that stretch.
TAC Senior Manager Road Safety Samantha Cockfield said that while reducing speed limits wasn’t always the first option, it was something that can be applied immediately where a need is identified.
She said there is a greater understanding now about the human body’s tolerance to absorbing energy.
“We understand that for a head-on crash, when you have cars coming towards each other, normally we can withstand about 70kp/h – a 140km/h head-on speed,” she said.
“When setting speed limits a 100km/h closing speed, even with some braking, it’s unlikely you will get down to a surviving speed without one of the parties severely injured or killed.
“So, we understand more about how we need to design the road system and make speed limits to be safe, and we also understand some of the design features such as barriers and other infrastructure.
“Where we have seen a number of crashes that have involved issues where we think lowering the speed limit can help, it’s clearly incumbent on us to do that.”
She said speed limits addressed a range of issues such as, head-on crashes and run-off road crashes, and they work for a volume of road users.
“There will be a range of reasons why people crash, but at lower speeds, clearly people have more time to recover from a situation, and for both parties to take action.
“If a crash does occur, the outcome will also be much less severe.”
With the Goulburn Highway, VicRoads Regional Director Bryan Sherritt said the decision to lower the speed was an immediate safety improvement that VicRoads had agreed to in conjunction with Victoria Police and Murrindindi Shire Council in response to the number of fatal crashes and safety concerns.
High crash warning signs and rumble strips had also been installed.
Yellingbo CFA Captain Paul Spinks said he believed reducing the speed limit to 80km/h would help reduce serious crashes on a bend in the road which he and his volunteers have become very familiar with.
“It’s not a very sharp corner, but if you hit it at 100km/h and end up on the stones you’re just not going to get your car back,” he said.
“That is, I believe, the advantage of having the speed limit at 80km/h there.”
Mr Spinks observed that the accidents have involved young drivers for the most part, and that brings inexperience in to it.
The slower speed just gives more leeway to recover from a bad situation.
He said while it may be apparent to local drivers that 100km/h is not a safe speed on a lot of stretches of the Healesville-Kooweerup Road, it may be different for visitors to the area.
“Because it says 100, there may be a perception that you can drive at that speed in all conditions, and it is mainly in poor conditions where these crashes have happened,” he said.
“It may be the difference between us attending a minor accident rather than a more serious one,” he said.
He said the speed limit reduction had been received positively, and that further investigations were being done by VicRoads into other aspects of the road.
He urged drivers using that road, and all roads, to concentrate on the road and drive to the conditions.
“Everyone has to understand when they’re behind the wheel, that the car they’re driving is a weapon that can do a lot of damage to yourself and to someone else.
“A licence is not a right, it’s a privilege and every driver owes it to themselves and to their families to drive to the conditions and concentrate on the road.”
