RAC Executive General Manager, Pat Walker, said the campaign was moving to the next phase by encouraging communities to share, support and implement their own road safety initiatives.
“We believe that every person in every community can help to improve road safety in the Wheatbelt. Over the coming months, we will be asking Wheatbelt residents to make the elephant their own and think about what they can do in their local area,” Mr Walker said.
“We have already seen some inspiring road safety ambassadors emerging in the region such as Karen Ducat who creates painted corrugated iron elephant-shaped art with road safety messages on them. Karen’s hope is to see her artwork displayed all over the Wheatbelt as a constant reminder to drive safely.”
Last year, in an effort to raise awareness about the Wheatbelt’s fatality rate being consistently and significantly higher than the rest of Western Australia, RAC unveiled the life-sized African elephant sculpture made out of crashed cars as a symbol of the silence on road safety. It spent the year travelling around the region with the aim of breaking the silence about the devastating impact of road trauma and busting the myths to replace them with facts about road safety.
“In 2015, the Wheatbelt road fatality rate was six times the Perth metropolitan rate, four times the state rate and well above nearby regions,” Mr Walker said.
“Sixty five per cent of Wheatbelt crashes can be attributed to deliberate driver choices, such as speed, drink driving and inattention. More than 73 per cent of fatalities were single vehicle run-offs.
“WA’s road safety record is simply unacceptable. The tragic reality is that last year, three people a week were killed on our roads and this year, we’re off to a terrible start. Fifty two people have died on WA roads, 11 above the five year average and 13 above the same time last year. Seventy one per cent of these fatalities have been in Regional WA.
“This does not take into consideration the long term impact that serious injuries also have on our community.”
RAC’s Community Attitudes Survey revealed that the elephant is making good traction in the region. Over half of the respondents have spoken about the campaign, 73 per cent have given thought to their own behaviour and 40 per cent claim to have changed their behaviour.
“It’s my elephant is an opportunity to put theory into practice. We know that there are poor driving behaviours out there and we need to change this,” Mr Walker said.
For more information or to share your road safety ideas, visit the Elephant’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/elephantinthewheatbelt/.
Media contact: RAC Media Office 0401 703 719
