Resident reporters

By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN
RESIDENTS are baffled at the constant loss of control that drivers have on a dangerous section of Warburton Highway at Launching Place.
They are keeping a vigilant eye on the unreported collisions that continue to take place between Allsops Road and Lusatia Park Road, taking it upon themselves to gather details and pass them on to the responsible authorities.
They say the trauma of living outside a constant crash zone is taking its toll on emotions, but they don’t know what else they can do.
When The Mail last spoke to the residents (Death Watch, 24 April 2012) there had been three collisions in as many months, with one young man losing his life.
At the time VicRoads told The Mail there would be investigations and possible improvements to the stretch of road, but in the meantime residents continue to count the number of screeching tyres and damaged cars.
Resident Paul van Kaathoven has reported another incident that occurred almost at midnight on Friday 22 June when a car hit a tree near the nursery.
Mr van Kaathoven said he didn’t see the latest incident himself but was alerted to it by neighbour Perry Carter.
“I then spoke to a relative of the driver of the vehicle that morning who visited the site of the accident,” Mr van Kaathoven said.
“She mentioned the driver was on his way home after visiting, and wasn’t speeding – she suggested he was travelling at 70 kilometres an hour – and at the service station area lost control of his car.”
Mr van Kaathoven said he was told the driver was travelling towards Woori Yallock when he seemed to lose control near the service station driveway, cross onto the wrong side of the road and into a tree.
“She said his vehicle sustained some damage and the driver suffered possible shock but was not injured,” he said.
He said reporting the incidents had become his duty, an action that he could take towards helping to solve the scary reality of living on the dangerous corner and the impact the collisions have on everybody.
“We are at the mercy of total strangers, we have no control of the driving of the road, the conditions or the drivers using that road and that’s why I’m reporting and I’ve become vigilant at the reporting,” he said.
“We’ve been through trauma, not just the last major incident but a number of years it’s been happening and we’ve been going through this trauma.
“I’d rather not live this way that I have to report to these authorities and politicians but I don’t know what else to do, I don’t want to move for the sake of people not doing anything to make it safer.”
Mr van Kaathoven said he didn’t want to give up and have the attitude of “what’s the point?”
“They talk about budgetary constraints but we’re talking about someone’s life and it has an effect on all of us,” he said.
“We feel vulnerable and no-one’s listening.”