A new facility in Ballarat will provide local emergency services personnel with training in dealing with lifesaving flexible safety barriers to help them when responding to road incidents.
VicRoads joined the CFA, VICSES, Victoria Police and TAC to launch the training facility at VicRoads depot in Wendouree.
Two stretches of flexible barrier have been installed at the depot and are available to the region’s emergency services workers to learn how to lay them down, cut them, and remove the posts if necessary.
The training facility is part of VicRoads’ commitment to provide additional resources and training to the state’s emergency services, as 2,000km of new flexible barriers are rolled out on the state’s highest-risk roads.
The barriers are proven to prevent head-on and run-off-road crashes – the leading cause of fatalities on country roads.
Last year a there were more than 1700 hits recorded to flexible safety barriers across the state.
On the Western Highway, the barriers were hit more than 80 times up to April 2018.
The barriers are being installed as part of the $1.4 billion Towards Zero Action Plan, which aims to ensure no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads.
VicRoads has been working closely with emergency services throughout the design and roll-out of the new barriers to ensure their access needs are incorporated.
VicRoads is also developing detailed mapping of barrier access breaks, emergency crossover points and interchanges which will be compatible with Triple Zero systems.
