5 August 2015

Minister for Roads Duncan Gay today announced the start of work on a new program to better-protect pedestrians from turning vehicles at intersections.

“Pedestrians are some of our most vulnerable road users which is why the NSW Government is investing $5 million to improve safety at signalised crossings,” Mr Gay said.

“We will be installing new traffic light infrastructure and changing the timing of lights to give pedestrians their own green light or more time to cross before traffic starts turning.

"You can't fight the laws of physics – pedestrians come off second best in crashes – which is exactly why this program is so important.

“This work also responds directly to two coronial inquests, which recommended improvements should be investigated when pedestrians and motorists have a green signal at the same time, and I couldn’t agree more.

“It is not just pedestrians that will benefit – the improvement work is going to provide an additional safeguard for motorists by reducing pedestrian blind spots when turning at lights.”

NSW is leading the country and is the first state to install these simple but clever improvements across the whole network.

With 34 pedestrians already killed on our roads this year compared to 25 this time last year – this safety improvement program is more important than ever.

The road safety experts have identified 560 intersections across NSW that need to be updated to better protect pedestrians and reduce the risk of a crash.

The program is getting underway immediately and is expected to be completed within three years.
Highest risk locations are being upgraded first, particularly those in busy built-up areas where pedestrian and vehicle crashes are more likely to happen.

MEDIA: Vanessa Juresic | 0419 618 081

View the original media release.