Council aims to curb pedestrian deaths

Council aims to curb pedestrian deaths
Image: Town Hall intersection.

By Georgia Fullerton

 

City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott has called for more action to lessen pedestrian accidents despite Council’s current awareness campaign.

Clr Scott asked Council at their March meeting what policies they would implement to lessen pedestrian accidents, which are high in the CBD. She said she believes robust procedures should be put in place to prevent further accidents and the spaces where these accidents occur should be examined.

“There’s always a range of factors that can cause these things. What’s important is to make sure we’re looking for solutions by design to prevent these repeated deaths or injuries from reoccurring,” she said.

Around 140 accidents have occurred in a 300 metre radius around Town Hall in the last five years, the intersection between George and Pitt Street has also been named as a danger spot for pedestrians. The council run public information campaign aims to curb these numbers and increase awareness of pedestrian deaths in the city.

A series of advertisements, including six train station billboards, map areas where pedestrian deaths and injuries have occurred.

The Lord Mayor Clover Moore responded to Clr Scott’s inquiry with a statement.

“Crash data is captured by the NSW Police and managed by the NSW Centre for Road Safety. A fatal crash report may be referred to the City Infrastructure and Traffic Operations Unit, which is responsible for the maintenance and enhancements of civil infrastructure assets within the local Government area,” she said.

The Crash Data report, which recorded pedestrian accidents from 2005 to 2013, has shown a decrease in the number of pedestrian injuries from 376 to 234.

Clr Scott believes these figures may have risen in the last two years.

“Once you see a pattern of accidents it’s important that Council works to examine whether the design can be improved to further improve safety,” she said.

You May Also Like

Comments are closed.