‘A death trap’: Plea for highway safety

The Capel Chamber of Commerce has made an impassioned plea to Premier Mark McGowan, calling for urgent modifications to Bussell Highway in a bid to avoid fatal crashes. The chamber wrote to the Premier this week, calling for an “urgent review of road design and speed limits” along the highway, near the Capel turn-offs. The letter, written by chamber president Bernie Masters on behalf of more than 70 members, said the group was concerned by recent incidents. “The recent deaths and serious injuries resulting from vehicle crashes along the section of Bussell Highway close to the Capel townsite is of great concern to the chamber and its members,” the letter read. “While inattention and poor decision-making by drivers are two of the major causes of the recent serious crashes, road design and speed limits are also obvious reasons why drivers are distracted or prepared to take greater risks than necessary.” Mr Masters said he was approached by a chamber member six weeks ago and since then two double fatal crashes had occurred on the infamous stretch of highway. A motion was then passed at the chamber’s annual general meeting on November 30, 10 days after the second fatalities, establishing its position on the issue. “This has been building up a head of steam for some time,” Mr Masters said. “There has been a number of people, probably for 15 years saying the current intersection of Stirling Road, Capel Drive and Bussell Highway is a death trap. “It is a really dangerous set of corners and road layout. Mr Masters accesses Bussell Highway at this intersection regularly and said he had been keeping an eye on driver behaviour. “It is a dog’s breakfast of an intersection,” he said. “I travel across Bussell Highway across Stirling Road into Capel Drive, four or five times a week and it is more common to see people drive straight through the stop sign than it is to see them stop.” Two double fatalities occurred on the highway during November. Main Roads says it will conduct a safety review into the stretch of road in the coming months which will analyse vehicle volumes and speeds, traffic counts and a video survey to capture driver behaviour while entering the highway. A long campaign run by residents of a nearby caravan park calling for a reduction in speed limit on a dangerous stretch of South West Highway near Waterloo recently proved successful. The campaign ran for 30 years, but intensified in recent months with the group producing television commercials and full-page ads in local newspapers in response to a number of fatalities.