The Andrews Labor Government is calling on community groups, councils and schools to use their local knowledge to improve road safety in Eastern Metropolitan Region.

Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region Shaun Leane today encourage locals to apply for grants of up to $50,000 through the Towards Zero Challenge Program.

The focus of this year’s program is addressing driver distractions and drowsiness, with applications to focus on new and innovative approaches to address these challenges.

Distraction and drowsiness are leading causes of fatal and serious injury crashes on Victorian roads.

Drowsiness is responsible for up to 30 per cent of crashes and driver distraction increases the chance of crashing by 15-20 per cent.

The Towards Zero Challenge is a program run by VicRoads, offering one-off grants of up to $50,000 to support new and innovative community-based behaviour change approaches to address a specific road safety challenge.

Some of the last year’s Community Grants recipients include using art in Ararat and Bendigo to encourage drivers to be more aware of all road users and increase community awareness of the need to slow down.

Applications are now open and close at 3pm on Monday 25 March.

For more information visit vicroads.vic.gov.au

Quotes attributable to Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region Shaun Leane.

 “We’re calling on community groups, schools and local councils to work with us to find with creative ways to improve road safety.”

“By using community knowledge to address behaviour change, we can reduce road user distraction and drowsiness on our roads.”