Symposium brings leaders together in march Towards Zero

21 Aug 2015

Influential Victorian community and business leaders will next week join with road safety decision makers to discuss ways their organisations can help reduce road trauma.

The second annual Towards Zero Road Safety Leadership Symposium on August 26 will focus on coordinating community action against deaths and serious injuries on the state's roads.

The event is led by the Ministerial Road Safety Council and Victoria's road safety partners, Transport Accident Commission, VicRoads, Victoria Police, Department of Justice and Regulation and the Department of Health.

The Symposium comes as the Andrews Labor Government prepares a road safety strategy and action plan, with the goal to reduce road deaths to below 200 by 2020.

Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan will highlight at the Symposium, the responsibility all Victorians must shoulder if the state is to achieve a long-term goal of zero deaths and serious injuries.

Attendees will hear from road safety experts from Australia and overseas as well as VicRoads chief executive officer John Merritt and TAC chief executive officer Joe Calafiore and Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Grainger.

Mr Donnellan will launch a major road safety initiative and delegates will be invited to share ideas on how Victoria can reach the goal of Towards Zero.

The following quotes can be attributed to Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan:

"Towards Zero is about setting the only acceptable longer-term target for road trauma and that is zero."

"The responsibility for achieving that vision is shared among every member of the community, whether you are in government, business or the person in the street and this Symposium is about getting all Victorians on board in the march Towards Zero."

"The Towards Zero approach recognises that people make mistakes on the roads and is about designing a road system around the road user, rather than trying to mould the user to suit the system."

"The Towards Zero Leadership Symposium will help Victoria's efforts to create a safer overall road system, one that is more forgiving and will cushion road users from death or serious injury, in the event that a mistake is made on the roads."