CO Council

Colac Otway Road Harm Intelligence Report

Fatal and injury crash patterns, vulnerable road-user harm, heavy-vehicle involvement, SCATS exposure matching and TIRTL freight-conflict matching.

42 fatalities 712 serious injuries 378 VRU crash records 72 heavy-vehicle crash records

1,203

Crash records

Fatalities

712

Serious injuries

1,119

Other injuries

12,439

Weighted harm score

52.7

Priority score

Method caveat: This is a public-interest analytical report. It is not an engineering safety audit. Locations should be treated as candidates for further review.

Safety diagnosis

This section diagnoses the type of road-harm problem in Colac Otway by crash mechanism, road environment, vulnerable-road-user involvement and heavy-vehicle involvement.

12,439

Weighted harm score

754

Fatal + serious injuries

8.9%

VRU share of harm

9.4%

Heavy-vehicle share of harm

74.5%

High-speed road harm share

26.7%

Intersection harm share

Plain-English diagnosis: Colac Otway recorded 1,203 injury crash records, 42 fatalities and 712 serious injuries in the analysis period. The leading harm mechanism family is Turning / crossing conflict. Heavy-vehicle-involved crashes account for 9.4% of weighted harm, indicating a freight/conflict layer worth local review. High-speed roads account for 74.5% of weighted harm. Dark, dawn or dusk conditions account for 25.3% of weighted harm.

Top harm mechanism families

Mechanism family	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
Turning / crossing conflict	494	332	5,599	45.0%
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	132	110	1,991	16.0%
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	225	110	1,624	13.1%
Other / mixed mechanism	141	84	1,315	10.6%
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	109	75	1,290	10.4%
Pedestrian conflict	29	21	313	2.5%
Rear-end / same-lane conflict	48	14	206	1.7%
Object / roadside impact	25	8	101	0.8%

Top fatal/serious mechanism families

Mechanism family	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
Turning / crossing conflict	244	332	5,236	45.3%
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	64	110	1,874	16.2%
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	101	110	1,470	12.7%
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	59	75	1,224	10.6%
Other / mixed mechanism	62	84	1,221	10.6%
Pedestrian conflict	19	21	303	2.6%
Rear-end / same-lane conflict	12	14	146	1.3%
Object / roadside impact	7	8	80	0.7%

Vulnerable road-user mechanism families

Mechanism family	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
Pedestrian conflict	29	21	313	28.3%
Other / mixed mechanism	27	14	244	22.0%
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	6	3	215	19.4%
Turning / crossing conflict	28	16	184	16.6%
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	4	1	103	9.3%
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	9	4	46	4.2%
Rear-end / same-lane conflict	2	0	2	0.2%

Heavy-vehicle mechanism families

Mechanism family	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	20	12	404	34.7%
Other / mixed mechanism	9	13	329	28.3%
Turning / crossing conflict	27	19	302	25.9%
Rear-end / same-lane conflict	7	5	55	4.7%
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	7	5	53	4.6%
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	1	1	11	0.9%
Pedestrian conflict	1	1	10	0.9%

Speed-zone harm profile

Speed category	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
High-speed roads (80+ km/h)	743	554	9,270	74.5%
Local streets (50 km/h)	179	77	1,212	9.7%
Urban arterial roads (60–70 km/h)	144	73	1,070	8.6%
Unknown speed zone	106	34	606	4.9%
Low-speed streets (≤40 km/h)	31	16	281	2.3%

Road-geometry harm profile

Road geometry	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
Midblock / not at intersection	859	530	9,089	73.1%
Intersection	339	222	3,327	26.7%
Unknown geometry	4	2	22	0.2%
Other geometry	1	0	1	0.0%

Lighting harm profile

Lighting	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
Daylight	920	572	9,144	73.5%
Dark / street lights	189	130	1,965	15.8%
Dawn / dusk	80	47	1,180	9.5%
Other lighting	14	5	150	1.2%

Top detailed crash descriptions

Detailed crash description	Crashes	FSI	Harm	Share
OFF RIGHT BEND INTO OBJECT/PARKED VEHICLE	157	107	2,171	17.5%
HEAD ON (NOT OVERTAKING)	107	99	1,670	13.4%
CROSS TRAFFIC(INTERSECTIONS ONLY)	124	92	1,254	10.1%
OFF LEFT BEND INTO OBJECT/PARKED VEHICLE	79	59	1,017	8.2%
RIGHT OFF CARRIAGEWAY INTO OBJECT/PARKED VEHICLE	63	42	827	6.6%
LEFT OFF CARRIAGEWAY INTO OBJECT/PARKED VEHICLE	83	48	807	6.5%
RIGHT NEAR (INTERSECTIONS ONLY)	30	32	345	2.8%
RIGHT THROUGH	21	12	324	2.6%

Caveat: This is a public-interest diagnostic layer. It identifies patterns for review and does not assign legal fault, engineering causation or treatment responsibility.

Emerging hotspots and worsening trends

This section compares recent road harm against the long-run baseline to identify patterns that may be getting worse.

Plain-English signal: Colac Otway's recent annualised harm rate is 995.5 versus a baseline annualised rate of 865.4, a change of 130.1 harm-score points per year.

Open full Colac Otway emerging-hotspots page Statewide emerging-hotspots index

Top local worsening locations

Location	Class	Baseline harm/yr	Recent harm/yr	Change/yr	Recent FSI
WESTWOOD ROAD / LINK TRACK	Emerging from low baseline	0.3	28.7	28.5	2
PRINCES HIGHWAY / CONNS LANE	Emerging from low baseline	0.4	18.5	18.2	7
GREAT OCEAN ROAD / OLD HORDEN VALE ROAD	Strong worsening	3.3	26.9	23.6	1
FORREST-APOLLO BAY ROAD / MULGREWS ROAD	Emerging from low baseline	1.9	18.5	16.7	7
HAMILTON HIGHWAY / COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD	Emerging from low baseline	0.0	13.3	13.3	5
PRINCES HIGHWAY / BIRREGURRA ROAD	Emerging from low baseline	1.3	13.3	12.1	5
COLAC-LAVERS HILL ROAD / HARRIS ROAD	Emerging from low baseline	0.0	8.4	8.4	3
COLAC-FORREST ROAD / TURNER DRIVE	Emerging from low baseline	0.0	7.8	7.8	3

Worsening mechanism families

Mechanism	Class	Baseline harm/yr	Recent harm/yr	Change/yr
Turning / crossing conflict	Major worsening	374.9	508.6	133.7
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	Major worsening	87.5	164.5	77.0
Other / mixed mechanism	Moderate worsening	103.4	115.7	12.2
Object / roadside impact	Moderate worsening	7.6	8.6	1.0
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	Watch	107.5	86.9	-20.6
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	Watch	167.7	98.4	-69.3

Comparison period

Baseline: 2012-2019
Recent: 2022-2025

Metrics are annualised. This is a statistical screening layer, not an engineering safety audit.

Vulnerable Road User Atlas

This section focuses on pedestrian, bicyclist, motorcyclist, school-age pedestrian/cyclist and older-pedestrian harm patterns where fields are available.

Plain-English VRU signature: Colac Otway recorded 105 vulnerable-road-user crash records, 5 fatalities and 54 serious injuries. VRU crashes account for 8.7% of all recorded injury crashes and 8.9% of weighted harm. The largest VRU count group is bicyclists. School-age pedestrian/cyclist flags appear in 16 records. Older-pedestrian flags appear in 19 records.

Open full Colac Otway VRU atlas page Statewide VRU atlas

VRU type breakdown

VRU type	Harm	FSI	Crashes
Pedestrian	631	33	50
Bicyclist	476	26	55
Older pedestrian	163	15	19
School-age pedestrian/cyclist	107	10	16
Motorcyclist	0	0	0

VRU mechanism families

Mechanism	Harm	FSI	Crashes
Other / mixed mechanism	401	20	39
Turning / crossing conflict	339	31	44
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	215	3	6
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	104	1	5
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	46	4	9
Rear-end / same-lane conflict	2	0	2

Top local VRU locations

Location	Harm	FSI	Crashes	Ped	Bike
MURRAY STREET -MURRAY STREET / QUEEN STREET Open map	110	2	2	2	0
PRINCES HIGHWAY / WARROWIE ROAD Open map	110	2	1	1	0
GREAT OCEAN ROAD / THE RISE Open map	102	1	1	0	1
COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD / COADS LANE Open map	100	1	1	0	1
OVERVIEW CRESCENT / EAGLES NEST COURT Open map	100	1	1	1	0
MURRAY STREET / GRANT STREET Open map	43	4	3	2	1
QUEEN STREET / WILSON STREET Open map	41	4	4	1	3
MURRAY STREET / GELLIBRAND STREET Open map	40	4	4	4	0

Freight Conflict Index

This section focuses on heavy-vehicle crash harm, vulnerable-road-user overlap and TIRTL freight exposure where available.

Plain-English freight signature: Colac Otway recorded 72 heavy-vehicle-involved crash records, 6 fatalities and 50 serious injuries. Heavy-vehicle crashes account for 9.4% of total weighted harm. There are 4 heavy-vehicle crashes overlapping with pedestrians, bicyclists or motorcyclists. No TIRTL-matched freight-corridor harm was available for this council in the current matching layer.

Open full Colac Otway freight-conflict page Statewide Freight Conflict Index

TIRTL freight-conflict sites

No records available for this table.

HV mechanism families

Mechanism	Harm	FSI	HV crashes	HV+VRU
Lane-change / sideswipe conflict	404	12	20	3
Other / mixed mechanism	329	13	9	0
Turning / crossing conflict	312	20	28	1
Rear-end / same-lane conflict	55	5	7	0
Run-off-road / loss-of-control	53	5	7	0
Parked-vehicle / roadside conflict	11	1	1	0

Top heavy-vehicle crash locations

Location	Harm	FSI	HV crashes	HV+VRU
HAMILTON HIGHWAY / POORNEET STATION N ROAD Open map	110	2	1	0
SKENES CREEK ROAD / HAYDENS ROAD Open map	110	2	1	0
PRINCES HIGHWAY / LAKE BURN ROAD Open map	103	1	3	0
NEW IRREWILLIPE ROAD / BUNGADOR SCHOOL ROAD Open map	101	1	1	0
COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD / COADS LANE Open map	100	1	1	1
SUNNYSIDE ROAD / BEATTIE LANE Open map	100	1	1	0

Freight / vulnerable-road-user overlap locations

Location	Harm	FSI	HV crashes	Ped	Bike	Moto
COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD / COADS LANE Open map	100	1	1	0	1	0

SCATS exposure-adjusted intersection league table

This section ranks signalised intersections by total road harm and by harm adjusted for observed SCATS movements.

Plain-English SCATS signal: No SCATS-matched signal-site exposure summary is available for this council.

Open full Colac Otway SCATS league table Statewide SCATS intersection league table

Top local SCATS sites by combined priority

No SCATS records available for this table.

Top eligible local SCATS sites by harm rate

No SCATS records available for this table.

Colac Otway crash map

Interactive self-contained Google Map showing crash records, fatal crashes, serious-injury crashes, vulnerable road-user crashes and heavy-vehicle crashes for this council area.

Map caveat: this is public-interest road-harm intelligence, not an engineering safety audit.

Open Colac Otway crash map in a full page

Colac Otway road-harm graphs

Large-format colour-coded graph pack showing this council's severity trend, harm composition, road-user involvement, top locations and exposure layers.

Annual severity trend

Crash records by year, stacked by fatal, serious injury and other injury severity.

Open full-size graph

Harm composition

Fatalities, serious injuries and other injuries in the official crash data.

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Road-user involvement

Pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle and heavy-vehicle crash involvement.

Open full-size graph

Top crash locations by harm

Highest weighted-harm locations in this council area.

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Statewide priority comparison

Combined priority score and statewide rank compared with other councils.

Open full-size graph

Graph caveat: these are public-interest road-harm intelligence charts, not an engineering safety audit.

Colac Otway Street View quick links

Click a link to inspect the road environment in a new browser tab.

Top crash locations — Street View

Location	Summary	Street View	Google Maps
BIRREGURRA-FORREST ROAD / DEEPDENE ROAD	7 crashes; 1 fatal; 28 serious; harm 389	Street View	Google Maps
GREAT OCEAN ROAD / BINNS ROAD	12 crashes; 1 fatal; 15 serious; harm 263	Street View	Google Maps
MURRAY STREET -MURRAY STREET / QUEEN STREET	8 crashes; 2 fatal; 4 serious; harm 246	Street View	Google Maps
GREAT OCEAN ROAD / JAMIESON TRACK	14 crashes; 1 fatal; 12 serious; harm 235	Street View	Google Maps
COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD / COADS LANE	3 crashes; 2 fatal; 1 serious; harm 210	Street View	Google Maps
HAMILTON HIGHWAY / POORNEET STATION N ROAD	2 crashes; 2 fatal; 1 serious; harm 210	Street View	Google Maps
GREAT OCEAN ROAD / THE RISE	8 crashes; 1 fatal; 5 serious; harm 160	Street View	Google Maps
NEW IRREWILLIPE ROAD / BUNGADOR SCHOOL ROAD	3 crashes; 1 fatal; 4 serious; harm 145	Street View	Google Maps
MCKAYS ROAD / RYANS ROAD	3 crashes; 1 fatal; 4 serious; harm 141	Street View	Google Maps
SKENES CREEK ROAD / HAYDENS ROAD	4 crashes; 1 fatal; 3 serious; harm 134	Street View	Google Maps
PRINCES HIGHWAY / ROSENEATH ROAD	3 crashes; 1 fatal; 3 serious; harm 131	Street View	Google Maps
FORREST-APOLLO BAY ROAD / OLD COACH ROAD	11 crashes; 1 fatal; 2 serious; harm 129	Street View	Google Maps

SCATS signal-site exposure layer — Street View

SCATS site	Summary	Street View	Google Maps
No Street View links available.

Top crash locations

Ranked by weighted harm score. Weighting: fatality ×100, serious injury ×10, other injury ×1.

Rank	Location	Crashes	Fatalities	Serious injuries	Other injuries	Harm score	HV crashes	Ped	Bike	Moto
1	BIRREGURRA-FORREST ROAD / DEEPDENE ROAD	7	1	28	9	389	0	0	0	0
2	GREAT OCEAN ROAD / BINNS ROAD	12	1	15	13	263	1	0	0	4
3	MURRAY STREET -MURRAY STREET / QUEEN STREET	8	2	4	6	246	0	2	0	1
4	GREAT OCEAN ROAD / JAMIESON TRACK	14	1	12	15	235	1	0	2	3
5	COLAC-BALLARAT ROAD / COADS LANE	3	2	1	0	210	1	0	1	0
6	HAMILTON HIGHWAY / POORNEET STATION N ROAD	2	2	1	0	210	1	0	0	0
7	GREAT OCEAN ROAD / THE RISE	8	1	5	10	160	0	0	1	5
8	NEW IRREWILLIPE ROAD / BUNGADOR SCHOOL ROAD	3	1	4	5	145	1	0	0	0
9	MCKAYS ROAD / RYANS ROAD	3	1	4	1	141	0	0	0	0
10	SKENES CREEK ROAD / HAYDENS ROAD	4	1	3	4	134	1	0	0	1
11	PRINCES HIGHWAY / ROSENEATH ROAD	3	1	3	1	131	1	0	0	1
12	FORREST-APOLLO BAY ROAD / OLD COACH ROAD	11	1	2	9	129	1	0	0	4
13	GREAT OCEAN ROAD / OLD HORDEN VALE ROAD	5	1	2	9	129	0	0	0	1
14	PRINCES HIGHWAY / LAKE BURN ROAD	6	1	2	7	127	3	0	0	0
15	PRINCES HIGHWAY / CORANGAMITE LAKE ROAD	5	1	2	5	125	1	0	0	1
16	MAIN STREET / AIREYS STREET	10	0	10	24	124	0	0	0	0
17	HAMILTON HIGHWAY / BARUNAH PLAINS ROAD	3	1	2	2	122	0	0	0	0
18	GREAT OCEAN ROAD / MOONLIGHT HEAD ROAD	11	1	1	11	121	0	0	0	8
19	RIFLE BUTTS ROAD / BIRREGURRA-DEANS MARSH ROAD	1	1	2	0	120	0	0	0	0
20	FORREST-APOLLO BAY ROAD / MULGREWS ROAD	12	0	11	6	116	0	0	1	1
21	PRINCES HIGHWAY / MCDONNELLS ROAD	5	1	1	4	114	2	0	0	0
22	WESTWOOD ROAD / LINK TRACK	4	1	1	2	112	0	0	0	4
23	CORANGAMITE LAKE ROAD / BROWNS LANE	1	1	1	2	112	0	0	0	0
24	CARLISLE ROAD / BUNKER HILL TRACK	2	1	1	0	110	0	0	0	1
25	BARPINBA ROAD / WEERING SCHOOL ROAD	1	1	1	0	110	0	0	0	0

SCATS signal-site exposure layer

Crash records matched to nearby SCATS sites using the selected proximity radius. This is a signal/intersection-adjacent view, not full road-network attribution.

No rows available.

TIRTL freight-conflict layer

Heavy-vehicle crash records matched to nearby TIRTL freight monitoring sites. This is a freight-corridor candidate layer.

No rows available.

Road-user summaries

Pedestrian crash records

Bicycle crash records

273

Motorcycle crash records

Heavy-vehicle crash records