The Andrews Labor Government is now accepting applications for a new round of grants to help community groups address road safety issues in their local areas.

The Transport Accident Commission Community Road Safety Grant Program provides grants of up to $30,000 to not-for-profit groups, schools and other community organisations to develop and implement road safety projects.

The program comprises of two rounds per year and encourages groups to work closely with their local communities to develop solutions to address road safety issues, on projects that align with the Victorian Road Safety Strategy (2021-2030).

Communities often have unique road safety needs, and local groups can be well-placed to identify these specific problems and implement solutions.

As the year has progressed, authorities have become increasingly concerned with the upward trend in vulnerable road user fatalities.

So far this year, 36 pedestrians have lost their lives on Victorian roads, up from 20 at this time in 2021 – this figure is also considerably higher than the five-year average of 26.

In order to address this issue, the program will prioritise projects that focus on protecting vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

An initial round of funding in April this year went towards a range of initiatives, including additional road safety signage around local schools, and the further development of local transport strategies.

Applications for the second round of the 2022 TAC Community Road Safety Grant Program open today (10 October), and close on 9 November.

Program guidelines and information on how to apply can be found at tac.vic.gov.au/about-the-tac/community/grants/community-road-safety-grant-program