By Dongyun Kwon
Victoria Police is planning to host a forum about road policing and road safety for the Yarra Ranges community.
The forum will be officially opened by a member of Command from the Eastern Region and then followed by a 20 to 30-minute presentation led by Victoria Police speaking about Yarra Ranges localised road trauma statistics for fatal collisions and serious injury collisions over the previous five years including specific age groups, gender type of road users, location and main causes.
Victoria Police Sergeant Roger Willems from Yarra Glen Police Station said the Eastern Region has a number of high-risk Police Service Areas associated with road trauma, and unfortunately, Yarra Ranges is one of these areas.
“Police accept that we play an important part in mitigating trauma on the roads,” he said.
“However, road safety is everyone’s responsibility and as such everyone has an important role in working with Victoria Police and key partners to provide a holistic approach.
“Eastern Region, as a proactive measure, has taken the approach to run standalone road policing and road safety community forums within a number of high-risk areas.”
After the presentation, the audience will grab an opportunity to ask questions.
“We’ll have a registration process with a QR code, so people can pre-ask their question before attending so that it flows nicely, and we get through as many questions as we can,” Sgt Willems said.
“I’m hopeful that there are some people from outside coming to the forum, like VicRoads or the Department of Transport, with respect to the conditions of the roads so that if there are any questions along those lines, we’ve got other people there who can answer those questions.”
The panel for the forum will be confirmed shortly, including Eastern Region Command, Eastern Region Road Policing Inspector and Eastern Region Division 2 management.
Sgt Willems said the idea of the forum is for everyone to work together to reduce road trauma, and Victoria Police is looking forward to hearing from the local community.
“Victoria Police, despite our proactive measures, is extremely concerned regarding the level of trauma we continue to see daily on our roads,” he said.
“This is a unique opportunity for the community to participate in discussions with senior members from Victoria Police and key road partners to raise questions and their concerns respectfully.
“If there’s something that the local people say is a real issue, then it’s the place to bring it up and discuss what can be done about it.”
The forum will be held at the Yarra Valley Racing located at Armstrong Grove, Yarra Glen from 7pm to 9pm on Monday 16 September.
The booking is essential to attend the forum at eventbrite.com/e/yarra-ranges-road-safety-forum-tickets-966911467227
