Michelle Rabottini and Odette Grantham, with Scarlett, 3, want the City of Casey to install some form of traffic device to stop drivers speeding along their Endeavour Hills street. Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Callan Date
LIVES are being put at risk by speeding motorists in a suburban Endeavour Hills street, a group of local residents say.
Four single-car collisions have occurred in David Collins Drive in the past 12 months with parked cars, an electrical station and a residential fence all feeling the full force of the out-of-control vehicles.
The latest smash, which occurred last week, has left Odette Grantham’s Mitsubishi sedan as a total write-off.
Ms Grantham has since joined several other David Collins Drive residents, including Michelle Rabottini and Glenn Todd, in calling for urgent changes.
All three say they have approached the City of Casey with their concerns but nothing has been done.
Although David Collins Drive is listed as a priority on Casey’s Local Traffic Management (LTM) Strategy, Ms Grantham said it was only a matter of time before someone was killed or seriously injured by a speeding car.
“It is not the first time this has happened. It has been happening on and off for the past couple of years,” Ms Grantham said.
“There have been fences which have been knocked down and this is our second write-off we have had with our cars parked outside our house.”
Hundreds of houses were also plunged into darkness for several hours last year after a car crashed into an electrical box.
Mr Todd described David Collins Drive as a racetrack.
The 10-year resident said he had raised the matter with council officers several times.
“A council officer told me to move house if I wasn’t happy here,” he said.
“It is unreal, mate. Nothing worries them (motorists) at all.”
“My fence has taken four beatings. The last one was when a taxi come through the fence, knocked into our caravan, then came through the pergola and the hit my wife’s car.”
He said police and the fire brigade had attended four crashes in recent years.
Casey manager of transport Paul Hamilton said there was a high demand for traffic calming measures across the municipality.
“The LTM Strategy prioritises streets for consideration for traffic calming measures taking into account a range of criteria that includes casualty accident history, speed, volume and potential pedestrian generators, such as schools or shops,” he said.
Mr Hamilton was unable to provide any possible time frame as to when works would take place.
Ms Rabottini said Casey council should do something immediately.
“It’s shocking and we need something done. Is it going to take one of our children to be killed before something is done?”
Mr Hamilton said all locations listed in the LTM Strategy continue to be monitored and assessed, then reviewed annually to determine the highest priority for treatment.
“The costs and timeframes to complete works on streets requiring calming devices cannot be determined until individual sites are assessed for appropriate treatments and detailed design and community consultation has been undertaken,” he said.
