RAC welcomes new Road Safety chair

The RAC has welcomed the appointment of Professor D’Arcy Holman as the new Independent Chair of the Road Safety Council.

RAC Head of Member Advocacy Matt Brown said the RAC looked forward to working with Professor Holman at what was a challenging time for road safety authorities in Western Australia.

“We welcome Professor Holman as the new Independent Chair of the Road Safety Council - he has a wealth of experience that he can bring to that position and to the road safety community,” Mr Brown said.

Mr Brown said Western Australia had a particularly poor road safety record when compared with other Australian states and there would be a number of immediate challenges that Professor Holman would need to address.

“The state’s shocking regional road toll is something that he will need to tackle as an urgent priority. This year 70 people have died in regional WA, and that number is unacceptable,” Mr Brown said.

“Professor Holman’s other priority will be to convince the government to reverse the decline in road safety funding and to ensure the Towards Zero strategy has the necessary finances to be effectively implemented.

“Without the proper funding, the Towards Zero strategy won’t work and there has been little commitment from the State Government thus far.”

The RAC also paid tribute to out going road safety chair Grant Dorrington.

“Grant Dorrington has been a passionate advocate for road safety during his years as the road safety council chair.

“On behalf of all RAC members and other road users we thank him for his fight to reduce the road toll in this State.”

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