New Campaign Shares Practical Lessons for Safer Rural Driving
Published on 26 May 2026
Road safety took centre stage in the Maranoa today as communities across Australia marked National Road Safety Week.
Maranoa Regional Council officially launched a new road safety awareness campaign aimed at highlighting the unique challenges of driving on rural and remote roads and encouraging safer choices behind the wheel.
The campaign was launched today by Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, the Honourable Brent Mickelberg, at The Big Rig in Roma.
The initiative features a series of short videos and online resources focused on practical road safety messages for people travelling throughout the Maranoa region.
The launch was also attended by founder of the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, Mr Peter Frazer OAM, along with representatives from emergency services, first responder groups, local schools and community organisations.
Maranoa Regional Council Mayor Wendy Taylor said the campaign was about sharing practical messages that could help keep people safe on regional roads.
“Living out here means we spend a lot of time on the road, and driving comes with very different conditions to what many people experience in the city,” Mayor Taylor said.
“For a relatively small Council, we are proud to be doing our bit to help raise awareness around road safety and support safer travel across the Maranoa.”
“We know how important our rural roads are to the people who live and work across the Maranoa, which is why Council has continued to ensure 100 per cent of rural rates collected are reinvested back into our rural road network,” Mayor Taylor said.
Deputy Mayor Cameron O’Neil, Portfolio Chair for Rural Roads, said Council wanted to demonstrate practical leadership in road safety through the initiative.
“As a Council, we manage one of the largest local government road networks in Queensland, and we felt it was important to do more than simply say we support road safety,” Cr O’Neil said.
“We wanted to develop something practical that could help raise awareness about the unique challenges of driving in rural and remote areas and encourage people to think differently about the decisions they make on our roads.”
“Many of the risks associated with country driving — including fatigue, wildlife, changing road conditions and distractions behind the wheel — are things people living in regional communities often learn through experience, and we wanted to help share those messages more broadly.”
“If these videos help just one person make a safer decision or help prevent one serious crash, then every bit of effort that has gone into this initiative will have been worthwhile.”
Cr O’Neil also acknowledged the work of emergency services personnel and first responders who regularly attend serious road incidents across the region.
“Unfortunately, when road trauma occurs, our emergency services personnel are often the first on scene, and we are incredibly grateful for the work they do in very difficult circumstances,” he said.
Council’s road safety campaign resources are available on the Maranoa Regional Council website at https://maranoa.co/RoadSafety.
For further information, contact Council on 1300 007 662.