Transport for NSW Towards Zero Newsletter  – October  

Welcome to the October edition of the Towards Zero newsletter.

Spring has sprung, and the warmer weather will see more pedestrians and cyclists out and about. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility – make sure to wear a helmet when riding, leave room for riders when driving and be alert while walking.

This month is Motorcycle Awareness Month, find out what you can do during the month to help keep motorcyclists safe on our roads. Read about the Department of Education’s Road Safety Education team and find out how we engaged local communities at the Wentworth Show.

Visit the Towards Zero Collaboration Hub, a new road safety planning resource. The Hub aims to support councils and locally based organisations build capacity to deliver long-term-focused road safety strategies.
We also have a number of campaigns running as we finish up the year. November marks Small Business Month, and we’ll be promoting our award-winning Road Safety In Your Workplace program, to encourage small businesses across the state to implement road safety policies into their organisations.

Motorcycle Awareness Month 2022

Every year, around 57 motorcyclists are killed and 1,042 are seriously injured on NSW roads. So far in 2022, 43 motorcyclists have lost their lives across the state. October marks Motorcycle Awareness Month, an annual initiative that Transport is proud to support in partnership with the Motorcycle Council of NSW.

This month, we are continuing to urge all road users to check twice for motorcyclists, and we are encouraging all motorcyclists to ‘ride to live’.

Transport for NSW has several initiatives to support motorcycle riders, such as:

• Our award-winning Motorcycle Clothing Assessment Program (MotoCAP) and the Consumer Rating & Assessment of Safety Helmets (CRASH) that provide riders with information on the safest gear for their rides
• Our Ride to Live campaign, which helps riders test their riding skills, and safely plan upcoming trips
• Online resources to promote safety information such as the Motorcycle Riders Handbook and our YouTube channel that has videos on topics from ABS brakes to spotting hazards on the roads.

Read More.….

Heading back to school

As teachers and students head back to school for Term 4, the quarterly Bus Flashing Lights campaign reminds motorists to slow down to 40km/h when bus lights flash.

Lights flash on the front and back of buses to inform motorists that buses are picking up and setting down children. Drivers must slow down to 40km/h when bus lights flash. Slow down and look out for children crossing the road near bus stops, in school zones or along bus routes.

Parents play a very important role in getting their child to and from the bus stop safely. Remember:

• Always meet your child AT school or the bus stop. NEVER wait on the opposite side of the road and call them across.
• Always supervise your child and hold their hand when walking to and from the bus stop or interchange and when crossing the road until they are at least 10
• Wait until the bus has gone then use a safe place to cross the road
• Encourage your child to take a seat quickly when they get on the bus and to buckle up if the bus has seatbelts.

If you have a child starting or changing schools next year, now is a good time to plan your child’s trip. Our Trip Planner app is available and you can find tips on keeping your kids safe while travelling to and from school on Safety Town.

For more information, visit https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/be-bus-aware/bus-flashing-lights.html and email towardszero@transport.nsw.gov.au to request a communication toolkit comprising webtiles and key safety messages.

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Additional $196 million to save lives on NSW country roads

In August, the NSW Government announced an extra $196 million in funding for the Towards Zero Safer Roads Program, a key initiative of the 2026 Road Safety Action Plan.

$640 million have already been invested in the Saving Lives on Country Roads program, targeting areas in regional NSW where chances of a crash are greater.

The extra $196 million means more life-saving treatments like rumble strips and safety barriers, as well as intersection upgrades and the installation of safety measures such as pedestrian islands and traffic light upgrades.

Approximately 2,700 kilometres of rumble strips – the equivalent of driving from Sydney to Adelaide and back again – are being installed along regional highways to combat driver fatigue.
Work has already begun on 300 kilometres of the Golden Highway between Dubbo and Singleton, as well as 400 kilometres of the Kamilaroi Highway between Wee Waa and Willow Tree.

The program’s predecessor, 2021 Safer Roads Program, is estimated to have prevented 1,500 serious injuries and deaths on NSW roads over 15 years.

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Meet the DoE’s Road Safety Education team

Since 1986, the Road Safety Education Program has provided educational resources and professional development to teachers and early childhood educators throughout NSW.

The program is a partnership with the Association of Independent Schools NSW, Catholic Schools NSW, Department of Education, and Kids and Traffic – the Early Childhood Road Safety Education Program at Macquarie University. The partnership supports the delivery of road safety education to more than 3,000 primary and secondary schools by classroom teachers.

Three new officers based at Albury, Bathurst and Warilla joined the Department of Education Road Safety team located in metro and regional areas of NSW. As experienced classroom teachers, the team is well placed to guide schools in identifying and applying best practice road safety education for individual school contexts and settings.

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Plan B Knocks Out Grog Sponsor

The Wentworth Show returned in August 2022 after a 2-year pandemic hiatus. In its 135-year history, the show’s bar area has traditionally promoted alcohol brands. Wentworth Shire Council and Transports’ Road Safety Officer, Belinda Fitzgerald, partnered with the Bar and Beer Garden under the Local Government Road Safety Program to change this.

This year’s Plan B partnership included an RBT-trolley, which conducted 260 breath tests, 185 Win-A-Swag entries and live drink driving penalty quizzes. Branding included Plan B t-shirts on bar staff, a fence wrap of the beer garden, front face signage on the bar building, menu boards for drink pricing, an interactive selfie frame with props and Plan B banners throughout the licensed areas.

After the success at the Show, Transport and Wentworth Shire Council will continue to work closely to reinforce key road safety messages in the community.

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