Government cutbacks apply brakes to vital road safety unit
The NSW Public Service Association warns job cuts and budget reductions at the Centre for Road Safety could compromise more than a decade鈥檚 progress on reducing the state鈥檚 road toll.
There were 376 people killed on NSW roads last year, down from 405 the previous year and 534 about 10 years ago[1].
色狼社区Assistant Secretary, Steve Turner, says job cuts will jeopardise the ongoing safety of pedestrians, cyclists and road users across NSW.
鈥淭he State Government鈥檚 decision to slash jobs at the Centre for Road Safety will apply the brakes on innovative policy programs designed to save lives on NSW鈥檚 roads,鈥 Mr Turner said today.
鈥淐utbacks at the Centre for Road Safety will compromise the centre鈥檚 ability to deliver specialised work including road safety education programs for children and high-impact public campaigns such as the 鈥榩inkie鈥 advertisement telling young drivers that 鈥渘o one thinks big of you鈥 when you speed.
鈥淭he NSW Government has denied frontline services will be affected by its 1.2% cut in staffing across agencies, but what could be more frontline than effective road safety programs?
鈥淥nly last month, Minister for Roads Duncan Gay announced that for the first time revenue raised from speed cameras would go towards road safety programs, yet we now hear the specialist staff driving these initiatives will lose their jobs.
鈥淲e need an explanation from the NSW Government on how it can possibly make our roads safer while taking the ace to our road safety experts and their support staff,鈥 Mr Turner said.
[1] https://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/downloads/accident_statistics_dl4.html