BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 1051 FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2018
Artist on right track ROBERT Milton swapped the life of a soldier for that of an artist, and the Junortoun-based former sniper plans to use a restored exrestaurant tram as his backyard studio as he tackles one of his most challenging, but exciting years yet. – Story Page 8 FAMILY PHOTO: Robert and Alison Milton with children Poppy and Connor. Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
ROAD WORK THE state government has joined Victoria Police and the Transport Accident Commission in an appeal to motorists and other road users to slow down and take more care in a bid to reduce the number of lives lost on the roads in 2018. The state’s provisional road toll for 2017 stands at 257, including six deaths in the City of Greater Bendigo, and while the toll has dropped from 2016’s 290 deaths, police say there is always more work to be done.
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Joint effort to slash crash trauma
The December 22 death of local cyclist Jason Lowndes, and the death this week of a 71 year-old Queensland man injured in a crash at Barnadown on December 21 capped a year where fatalities on regional and rural roads across the state accounted for 60 per cent of the road toll. In 2016, there were five lives lost on local roads.
Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said while this was the first reduction in the number of lives lost on Victorian roads in four years, it was sobering to reflect on the number of families moving into the new year without their loved one. “My deepest condolences to each of the families who I can only guess
Pokies win for club – Page 5
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continue to contemplate why, why have they been thrust into the sadness and loss that is the unexpectedness of road trauma,” AC Fryer said. “I cannot accept that it is only a matter of time before another life is lost, that the cost of mobility will at times be someone’s life. “That is why police will continue to run intelligence led state-wide and
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local police operations that focus on speed, drink and drug driving, distraction, seat belt compliance and fatigue. “My resolve only strengthens too that we’ll continue to enforce and educate for greater road safety. And we’ll continue to call on the community to acknowledge that they, each and every motorist, rider, pedestrian and or cyclist, has a role in ensuring theirs and other road users safety.”
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