VicRoads annual road safety grant initiative offers funding opportunities to councils and community organizations.Refer: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-safety-programs/vicroads-community-road-safety-grants-program/standard-grants-program
I think the program is essentially a “safe-washing” initiative, because it puts the responsibility on pedestrians rather than addressing the underlying issue of car-centric road design and driver behaviour.
Under the “Pedestrian innovation” category, VicRoads will fund pedestrian behaviour change and education programs, and nudge marketing strategies, while infrastructure and speed reduction planning works are excluded.
A recent Austroads webinar showed that zebra and wombat crossings are effective because they modify the behaviour of car drivers. The studies also found that pedestrian behaviour was not a significant factor in collisions. Instead, reducing vehicle speed to 30km/hr* is the most effective way to reduce pedestrian and car fatalities and injuries. The Stockholm Declaration of February 2020 and the subsequent endorsement by the UN General Assembly recognize this fact.
To address the root cause of pedestrian and cyclist accidents and fatalities on the roads, let’s not victim blame. What’s needed are infrastructure changes and reduced speeds to change driver behaviour.. Which are precisely the things excluded from VicRoads funding.
*Check out these 30km/hr links from WATAG newsletters and other posts.
Whitehorse Active Transport Action Group Inc. 