By CASEY NEILL
A LACK of lights at a busy Dandenong intersection is colliding with driving behaviour to create a serious safety hazard.
Lamis Albyati frequently witnesses crashes at the junction of Scott and Thomas streets and is calling for signalisation five years after first expressing concern about the removal of the roundabout which controlled the intersection.
She told the Journal she was assured at the time that traffic lights would replace it as part of the Revitalising Central Dandenong project.
“It’s in the middle of Thomas Street – the most crowded and very dangerous place to drive and walk,” she said.
But she’s since heard that signalisation would be seven years away.
Ms Albyati drove in her homeland, Iraq, for 25 years before she moved to Australia.
“So when I first came here I couldn’t even think about driving,” she said.
“We drive on the other side of the road.
“I thought ’I’m not going to drive until my mind will switch from the left to the right’ because I didn’t want to hurt anyone.
“I nearly got killed by a bus because I was looking at the wrong side of the road.”
She said most people in Dandenong came from the same background as her.
“We don’t stop in intersections,” she said.
“There has to be something very obvious to tell them what to do.
“Stop signs are not enough.
“It’s scary and it’s confusing.”
Ms Albyati works at WISE Employment on Thomas Street.
“Even with the roundabout it was dangerous there because they don’t stop, but it was less dangerous,” she said.
“They just keep driving.
“There is always broken glass at that intersection. There is always an accident happening in that area.
“There is one accident every week. How many accidents are there going to be in seven years?”
Councillor Matthew Kirwan said the intersection was a safety hazard.
“Either the roundabout needs to be reintroduced or signalisation of the intersection needs to be done urgently before there is a much more serious accident,” he said.
“It is not just a hazard for drivers – pedestrians could be injured as well.
“We are trying to make Thomas Street pedestrian-friendly and the current situation is far from it.”
The council’s acting engineering services director Oliver Vido said an independent traffic engineer completed a road safety audit.
They found the intersection’s design complied with standards and was consistent with many others in the area.
“The independent observations of accidents have highlighted that these have been caused by drivers failing to comply with the road rules, not directly associated with the intersection design,” he said.
Mr Vido said the council had installed additional line marking to highlight the intersection to drivers.
“STOP has been marked on the ground at the Thomas Street approaches,” he said.
“In the longer term, the intersection may be suitable for traffic signals.
“That will be considered through the council’s capital works program as traffic volumes grow and the signals are justified.”
