New campaign aims to reduce pedestrian injuries and deaths in built up metropolitan areas

Pedestrians are being urged to “Stop. Look. Live.” as part of a new Crime Stoppers Victoria campaign delivered in partnership with Victoria Police.

The campaign will focus on reducing the number of pedestrians seriously injured or killed while crossing the road in built up areas, where there is a speed limit of 60km/h.

Crime Stoppers Victoria Chief Executive Stella Smith said the campaign would use a variety of techniques to educate vulnerable pedestrians on how they can stay safe using Victorian roads.

“Every Victorian deserves to get home safely and the easiest way to achieve this is to identify risks and follow the road rules,” Ms Smith said.

“No matter whether you are a pedestrian, driver or cyclist on the road, we challenge everyone to stop and think, is this safe?”

According to Victoria Police and TAC data, 70 percent of all pedestrian deaths in Victoria occur in metropolitan Melbourne.

The most vulnerable people are primary school children aged 4-12, intoxicated pedestrians aged 30-39 and elderly pedestrians aged over 70.

Ms Smith said 36 pedestrians had been killed on Victorian roads over the past 12 months – a figure she hoped would decrease with more education.

“We all play a role in keeping our roads safe and Crime Stoppers Victoria is offering vulnerable pedestrians the tools they need to use our roads safely,” she said.

“We have seen 175 pedestrians killed on our roads over the last five years, and a significant number of those have been in 60 km/h zones.

“We hope with more education and awareness we can reduce the number of injuries and most importantly, deaths on our roads.”

As part of the campaign, Crime Stoppers Victoria will hit the streets to actively engage with high-risk pedestrians to educate them on how they can help keep our roads incident free.

Crime Stoppers will also visit locations across Melbourne which have the highest number of pedestrian fatalities, focusing particularly on community hubs and primary schools.

Victoria Police Road Policing Command Acting Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien said police were focused on protecting the most vulnerable road users.

“Too many vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, are being killed or seriously injured and it’s all too preventable.

“We are grateful to have Crime Stoppers Victoria launching this campaign, along with the many councils, schools and businesses that will support this initiative to improve road safety.

“Everyone has a role to play in keeping our roads safe, and we urge everyone to think not only about their own safety but how their behaviour can impact the safety of others.”

Learn how you can keep our roads safe at crimestoppersvic.com.au