General News
20 July, 2026
'Just be patient': Local leagues back road safety round
The Wimmera Football Netball League, Horsham District Football Netball League, Wimmera Mallee Umpires and local police have joined forces to tackle the road toll this weekend.
More than a thousand AFL Victoria-affiliated clubs will become road safety champions on Saturday, July 25, for the Road Safety Round.
Players, umpires, officials and volunteers will wear blue armbands to promote safe driving and honour lives lost.
Horsham Police Station’s Senior Constable Richard McGlade said the message was simple: arrive alive.
“We want people to arrive safely at games,” Sen Const McGlade said.
“We want them to enjoy themselves at a game, and we want them to get home safely as well.”
Sen Const McGlade said the recent cold weather, including a thick fog that has blanketed much of the Wimmera, is a key example of driving to the conditions.
“Just be patient,” he said.
“Drive to the conditions and exercise courtesy to other drivers on the roads.”
He added that TAC has allocated police funding this weekend to target crash-prone areas, while focusing on impaired drivers.
“Police are continuing to target drink and drug driving drivers,” Sen Const McGlade said.
“We are also looking for speeding offences and fatigued drivers. Irrespective of the time of year, that will always be our focus.
“We've got some additional patrols, extra staff, who will be targeting some specific spots where there've been collisions previously.”
The TAC launched the round on Monday, July 20, with AFL Victoria at the MCG.
The event was held against a sombre backdrop of 291 blacked-out stadium seats, representing the number of people who died on Victorian roads in 2025.
“Every life lost on our roads is one too many,” said Ros Spence, the state Roads and Road Safety minister.
“Footy and netball clubs reach people of all ages, on and off the field – and that makes them powerful voices for safer roads.”
Collingwood and Hawthorn will wear blue armbands at the MCG on Saturday to mark the eighth year of the Road Safety Round.