Crash victim holds fears of a death on notorious road

The 32-year-old lost control on a particularly bad stretch of the Heywood-Woolsthorpe Road, which has been dubbed one of the worst roads in the state, and collided with a tree.

Mr Fry broke his pelvis in five places and was unable to work for a number of months.

He has joined a growing number of south-west residents who have called for an upgrade of the road and spoke about his accident to mark National Road Safety Week.

"I should have been dead," Mr Fry said.

"I hit the tree travelling at 100kmh."

Mr Fry said his mobility was extremely limited for months and he still experienced pain.

He said it was extremely disappointing there had been no upgrades to the road in the 11 years since his accident.

"It's no better," Mr Fry said.

"It's probably worse."

Mr Fry has no choice but to use the road every day because he lives on it.

"It's an absolute disgrace," he said.

Mr Fry said he believed the state government would only upgrade it if there was a fatality.

"They only want to spend money in the city."

He said the road had been in a terrible state his whole life and an upgrade was well overdue.

In state Parliament on Thursday, Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell MP asked what was stopping the Minister for Roads and Road Safety from repairing the region's roads.

"South-west coast needs actions not leveraging on investment. We don't need bureaucratic buzz words. We need roads that are safe, not potholed goat tracks. We need roads that are fit-for-purpose," Ms Britnell said.

"If the government stands ready to do more, what is stopping you from repairing our roads?

"Years of systematic neglect has resulted in the south-west coast's roads becoming a shambolic web of dangerous roads.

"It's time the government stopped talking and started doing".

National Road Safety Week is held annually to shine a light on the 1200 people who are killed - and 44,000 who are seriously injured - on Australian roads.

Traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian children under 15 and the second-biggest killer of all Australians aged between 15 and 24.

Warrnambool police highway patrol unit Acting Sergeant Tony Dumesny told The Standard motorists would see an increased police presence cracking down on the five common causes of fatal crashes: impaired driving, speeding, fatigue, failure to wear a seatbelt, and distraction.

He said motorists could expect to see signed reminders on south-west roads, including on the highway near the Warrnambool Homemaker Centre.