SPEED limits on all rural and regional Victorian roads should be reviewed "as a matter of priority," a parliamentary inquiry has suggested.
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Findings from an inquiry into Victoria's road toll, which was established in June 2019, were published on Thursday morning.
A review of speed limits on all rural and regional roads was among 36 recommendations in the 268-page final report.
The Legislative Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee, which conducted the inquiry, recommended speed limits be reviewed to identify unsafe roads.
Spending should be prioritised or speed limits dropped according to traffic volumes on roads found to be unsafe, the report recommended.
"Relying on upgrades for unsafe low-traffic roads is currently not a feasible, nor an economically possible solution," the report said.
"Default speed limits on such roads should be lowered to safe levels."
The committee recommended the government review its road maintenance priorities, including how each project was expected to affect that road's safety rating.
"A star safety rating for roads exists, with one star being the least safe and five-star being the safest," committee chair Enver Erdogan said.
"Research suggests fatalities and serious injuries are halved for each incremental improvement to a road's condition.
"The government should undertake and publish research to determine the cost and timeframe of making all highways, arterial roads and other roads of significance in Victoria a minimum three-star rating. This will give the Victorian community a better understanding of the roads they are driving on."
Other recommendations related to data collection, driver training and behaviour, vehicle safety and transparency among road safety partners.
"Victoria's road safety partners must commit to a new culture of cooperation, transparency and an acceptance of the benefits of independent scrutiny of their work," Mr Erdogan said.
The committee found targets established in the Towards Zero road safety strategy were still achievable, though the state failed to reach them.
"Victoria has done well over the past 40-50 years to reduce the road toll; however, it has plateaued in recent years," Mr Erdogan said.
"The committee heard this has happened in many parts of the world. This suggests previous reforms have achieved all they can and it's time for a fresh push to reduce road trauma even further."
The state's yearly road toll could be cut to less than 200, the inquiry found.
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