Wheatbelt North road safety officer Ray Long said of the 93 deaths on the roads this year, 61 were on regional roads.

He said road crash statistics in the Wheatbelt North Region are at a critical point with fatalities and serious injury data indicating an increase.

“The 2008 statistics indicate vehicle crashes in WA rural regions accounted for 119 fatalities out of a total of 209 State wide, with 20 fatalities occurring in the Wheatbelt region,” he said.

“But where communities have operational Road Safety Committees, there is a notable reduction to road crash incidents.

“Local committees have the insight into where potential black spot areas exist and this information may be presented to the Local Government or Main Roads for rectifying or road upgrades.”

Mr Long said past data has proven that country roads were notorious for single vehicle crashes.

The Wheatbelt North Region consists of 24 Local Governments from Dandaragan and Jurien Bay to Southern Cross and in the 10 years to 2004 accounted for 6,882 car crashes in which 182 fatalities 954 hospitalisations occurred.

Mr Long said with the establishment of working Road Safety Committees in the region there are indications the number of fatalities and crashes may have been reduced by up to 50 percent.

“Hopefully there are interested parties in the region who are willing to provide their time and energy in promoting road safety,” he said.

“They must be prepared to organise an operational RoadWise, Road Safety Committee within their shires in a major effort to reduce the heartache associated with the loss of a loved one due to a fatal road crash.”

Anyone interested in forming a Road Safety Committee should contact their local shire or contact Ray Long on 9213 2055.