Federal funding backs 58 new road safety awareness projects

Fifty-eight projects will share over $29 million in grant funding to improve road safety thanks to the Albanese Government’s National Road Safety Action Grants Program. 

Grants of between $20,000 and $1.5 million have been awarded to non-infrastructure road safety projects focused on expanding new road safety technology, research and education.

Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Senator Anthony Chisholm will visit the team working on UNSW’s VRStreetLab project today, who are set to use their grant funding allocation of $233,965 to evaluate cyclist behaviour through a Virtual Reality (VR) Street Simulator.

Promoting road safety in First Nations communities has also been prioritised through the Program, with nearly $1.3 million allocated to the Katherine West Health Board Aboriginal Corporation in the Northern Territory to reduce road trauma through awareness programs and educational technology. 

The National Road Safety Action Grants Program has already provided funding toward 23 non-infrastructure road safety projects, through its previous round, by prioritising five key areas critical to reducing deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads: 

• Vulnerable Road Users
• Community Education and Awareness 
• First Nations Road Safety
• Technology and Innovation
• Research and Data.

More information on the National Road Safety Action Grants Program, including a full list of successful projects awarded under the First Nations Road Safety, Technology and Innovation, and Research and Data streams can be found here.

Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm:

“Keeping people safe on our roads is a critical priority of our government, which is why we’re rolling out this much-needed funding to support projects that will make a real difference in changing the way we think about road safety. 

“This funding backs road safety education and research to develop new technologies, like airbag helmets and new collision avoidance technology, to keep Australians safe on our roads.

“We’re also supporting new research to fill gaps in our understanding of how to drive safely, including how to prevent risky driver behaviour and how much sleep you need in order to drive safely. 

“Everyone has a role to play when it comes to road safety, and by working together to deliver projects like these, we can support better road safety outcomes for Australia.”  

Quotes attributable to the Director of the Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI) at UNSW Sydney, Professor Taha Hossein Rashidi:

“Improving road safety is crucial to reduce injuries and save lives. 

“VRStreetLab is a novel VR transport simulator that tests smart cycling infrastructure and safety measures to make our streets safer.

“Our technology allows us to better understand how cyclists interact with safety interventions like smart sensor traffic lights, collision warning systems and digital signage with real-time updates in a fully immersive simulated environment.

“The benefit is a rapid, cost-effective platform to evaluate the impact of safety measures to inform transport policy before large-scale investment.

“The funding will fully support our efforts to begin this innovative transport research and improve safety for everyone on the road with massive potential for further research initiatives upon completion of this project.”