By Vanessa Chircop
ACCIDENTS in Hobsons Bay have cost tax-payers, rate-payers and the community a whopping $166 million between 2005 and 2010.
At last week’s council meeting, councillors voted to release the draft Road Safety Strategy 2011/2013 for public comment, which revealed the staggering figure.
Councillor Peter Hemphill told the council this figure shocked him.
“It just shows there are a lot of things that we don’t think about as far as the real costs,” he said.
The draft also revealed on average, every four months on Hobsons Bay roads, one person was killed, 28 people were hospitalised and 45 people received injuries requiring treatment.
According to the Bureau of Transport Economics the total cost of each person killed in a crash has been estimated at $1.5 million.
The draft states, “for each person seriously injured the total cost is $325,000.”
Despite these figures there has been an overall decline in road causalities in Hobsons Bay.
According to the Transport Accident Commission, the Victorian road toll has more than halved since 1989.
Despite this, more than 8,500 people have been killed on Victorian roads.
As of Monday, the 2011 Victorian road toll stood at 192 deaths – two per cent higher than last year’s toll.
The council’s draft Road Safety Strategy 2011/2013 is now open for public comment.
The community can comment on the strategy until Wednesday 14 September. It can be viewed at Hobsons Bay Civic Centre, 115 Civic Parade, Altona, Hobsons Bay Libraries or www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au.
