Road carnage prompts attack on safety chief

Two people were killed late yesterday when their four-wheel-drive vehicle hit a truck on Albany Highway, near Williams. 

The crash took to nine the number of people killed since a horror run on WA roads began on Friday. The road toll this year is 103, 21 more than at the same time last year. 

One person died in the crash, which occurred about 5.30pm. The second victim was dead by the time a rescue helicopter from Perth arrived. 

The four days of carnage sparked demands for an independent review of the effectiveness of the expensive taxpayer-funded road safety advertising blitzes. 

Collie-Wellington MLA Mick Murray said the soaring numbers of deaths was evidence that the Road Safety Council’s methods were failing. Mr Murray said motorists may have been overloaded with the road safety message to the point where they were no longer listening. 

“Some of the really, really way out ideas that have been put forward have certainly got plenty of media coverage yet people still continue to die,” he said. “I think you can overdo it and people can become a bit blase about it and it just goes straight through to the keeper. 
“We have to work out what is working and what isn’t working because at the moment it just seems to be weekend after weekend.” 

In the past few months Mr Dorrington has thrown his support behind 30kmh speed limits on suburban roads, installing speed limiters on all cars, forcing parents who teach their children to drive to undergo a refresher course and revoking the licences of drivers caught twice for speeding by more than 20kmh. 

Opposition Leader Paul Omodei said WA motorists were sceptical about road safety initiatives, with Multanovas seen as revenue raising tools and 30kmh speed limits viewed as an over-reaction. 

Mr Dorrington defended the Road Safety Council’s strategies, which last year allowed WA to record its lowest road toll in 40 years. 

“We can always do more and I wouldn’t suggest that what we are doing today is enough,” he said. 
“What I am suggesting is that we have got the right plan, we know why people die. The key is how do you get everyone to make sure they do the right thing.” 

The Office of Road Safety, which manages and co-ordinates the activities of the Road Safety Council, received $20.6 million in funding last year.

BEN SPENCER and MEGAN SADLER

Shattered: Fred Michel, of Michel Towing, inspects a Subaru Liberty involved in a fatal crash on Friday. Pictures: Nic Ellis

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