BY BELINDA NOLAN
BRIMBANK Highway Patrol Police will mount a new road safety campaign after the fourth fatality during a horror six weeks on the city’s roads.
A 73-year-old woman became Brimbank’s latest road victim after being killed in Sunshine West last week.
Police believe the elderly pedestrian was crossing Glengala Rd with her walking frame, when she was struck by a van around 6.50am on Tuesday.
Passers-by rushed to help, but the woman died at the scene.
Police said the 50-year-old driver, who was not speeding, stopped at the collision scene and is co-operating with investigators.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old man was killed after being hit by a car on Ballarat Rd on 24 July.
Investigators believe the man may have crossed the road against the traffic lights.
Paramedics called to the scene found the pensioner flung several metres from the car.
He suffered serious head injuries, and died in hospital a short time later.
Brimbank Highway Patrol Sergeant Rod Stein said three elderly pedestrians had been killed in the municipality in less than two months.
All three were killed within walking distance of their homes.
Sgt Stein said police were currently drafting a new program in a bid to spread the road safety message to vulnerable people within the community.
Sgt Stein said officers would be contacting community groups and Brimbank Council in a bid to drive down the city’s rising road toll.
Sgt Stein said pedestrians needed to take more care while crossing the road, while drivers needed to slow down.
“I think that people often tend to look at how to do things quickly rather than how to do them safely,” Sgt Stein said.
Latest TAC figures show three people were killed between January and June this year.
The latest fatalities bring the city’s road toll to seven, a rise on the 2010 figure, which stood at six.
