Take the pledge to be safer on our roads

Monday, 16 November 2020

Penrith City Council is encouraging residents, businesses and the community to take the pledge to be safer on the roads for National Road Safety Week (15 November to 22 November).

National Road Safety Week highlights the impact of road trauma and ways to reduce it. By taking the pledge, road users are promising to be safer on the roads by identifying and correcting risky behaviours. The week identifies road users as drivers, passengers, pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists.

Every year, approximately 1,200 people are killed and another 44,000 are seriously injured on Australian roads. Traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian children under the age of 15 and the second biggest killer of all Australians between 15 and 24.

National Road Safety Week is an annual initiative from the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, partnering with road safety organisations and government.

Penrith Mayor Karen McKeown OAM praised the SARAH Group and its supporters by providing an opportunity to talk about road safety and to reflect on how we use our roads.

“According to Transport for NSW’s crash data, Penrith recorded 30 fatalities between 2015 and 2019. The annual average fatality is six lives lost each year in the Penrith local government area.

“Speed and fatigue remain the top contributing factors in road crashes in the LGA. We want to continue lowering these numbers by decreasing risks when using the road,” Cr McKeown said.

“National Road Safety Week aims to decrease risks of serious injury and death by encouraging road users to remove distractions and never use their mobile phones while they’re behind the wheel or crossing the road and to ensure that they are not fatigued or speeding,” she concluded.

Penrith City Council will be sharing tips of encouragement to road users on the Penrith City Council Facebook during the week.

For more information on Council’s road safety initiatives, visit penrith.city/roadsafety and follow Penrith City Council on Facebook to keep up to date with programs and events.

Learn more about National Safety Week and take the pledge at https://roadsafetyweek.com.au

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Monday, 16 November 2020.