Road Safety in the South West

City of Busselton

The City of Busselton has been working to improve regional road safety for cyclists and encourage safer sharing of the road. Funded by the Commonwealth Road Safety Innovation Fund, the City has installed interactive and static cyclist ahead warning signs as well as 1.5m passing distance signs on six local roads.

To support the on-road signage initiative, the City also created an advertising campaign to raise awareness and promote sharing the road and further increase the reach of the initiative.

Post project evaluation has revealed that of the 94 responses received 83 per cent drivers think the signage is effective in improving their awareness of cyclists and 71 per cent cyclists think the signage is effective in improving cyclist perception of safety.

For more information on the project and evaluation results visit Your Say Busselton.

Shire of Dardanup

The Shire of Dardanup’s Harris Road is an important distributor road and has been recognised as a Road of Regional Significance. Harris Road connects South Western Highway to industrial areas and is not only a heavy vehicle route but is also a link which many cyclist utilise to access the Ferguson Valley region.

With funding through the Regional Road Group Road Project Grant, the Shire have upgraded Harris Road to increase safety for many of road users.

Project works included widening and strengthening the pavement, blending the pavement works to existing driveways and new drainage works, sealing, line-marking and signage. The upgrades also included widening and sealing of shoulders to provide a dedicated lane for cyclists, creating safer space for cyclists alongside heavy vehicles.

For more information visit the Shire of Dardanup’s website.

For every death on roads in the South West region during the 2015-2019 period, there were many more people seriously injured. Many of these serious injuries result in permanent disability and change lives forever, placing a huge burden on public health resources and the community.

The definition of a road fatality in WA is: a person who was killed immediately or died within 30 days of the date of a road crash, as a result of the crash. The definition of a serious injury in WA is: admitted to hospital as an inpatient for treatment of injuries sustained in a crash but did not die within 30 days of the crash.

The first image to the right provides a breakdown, for the South West region, of the proportion and number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on State versus Local Government roads.

The second image to the right shows the average annual KSI rate per 100,000 population for both State and Local Government roads, the change from the last reporting period and data about road length and usage.

What are the Most Common Crash Types in the South West?

In the South West region, the most common crash types include run-off-road, intersection and non-collision crashes.

This data, taken from the South West region Road Safety Performance on Local Government Roads 2015-2019 Report, can assist Local Governments to prioritise their time, resources, and effort towards implementing road safety interventions which target treatment of the crashes that are killing and injuring the most people in their area.

How can I get Involved in Road Safety in the South West?

We can all play a role in preventing road crashes. Governments, communities, and individual road users can all contribute in different ways to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.

There are a number of road safety initiatives being implemented in the South West region, one being Coffee Stop. 

Coffee Stop operators provide free coffee or tea to drivers to encouraging them to take a break from driving, helping to address driver fatigue in Western Australia.

To find out how you can get involved in this and other road safety initiatives, visit the Take Action section of this website or contact Regional Road Safety Advisor, Katherine Celenza.