Case study: Troublesome intersection Max lives near an intersection with a new roundabout. He has seen several cars and trucks hit the roundabout in recent weeks. The speciýc issue is trafýc safety on the new roundabout and Max wants to participate in solving this issue. Step 1 — Problems and solutions Max wondered why there were so many accidents — was the problem driver behaviour or the roundabout itself? He drove through the intersection and walked on the footpath around the roundabout. He noticed it was not easy to see the roundabout from one direction (driving from the north) and it was not lit at night. Speciýc problem — roundabout can’t be seen easily from the north and is not lit at night. Possible solutions — provide lighting at the roundabout, improve signage and add line markings — especially from the north. Step 2 — Who is responsible? Max wasn’t sure which level of government was responsible for the road, so he ýrst rang the government department responsible for roads at the state level. The person Max spoke to was able to tell him that the road was maintained by his local government (council). Responsible organisation — local council Step 3 — Write your submission Max followed the following steps to write a submission to his local council. He included photographs that he had taken of the roundabout and statistics related to the accidents. • Clearly address the issue (or terms of reference for a parliamentary committee). • Make sure your points are relevant and highlight your own perspective. • Begin with a short introduction about yourself or the organisation you represent. • Emphasise the key points so that they are clear. • Outline how problems can be addressed. • Include only documents that directly relate to your key points. • Include only information you would be happy to see published on the internet (if writing to a parliamentary committee). What if I can’t ýnd a speciýc person to write to? In this example, if Max couldn’t ýnd out who in his local government was the most appropriate person to write to, he could address the submission to ‘whom it may concern’. If you are emailing, you can locate a general enquiry email address. You should state the issue in the subject line of the email. Here is the submission Max wrote: Dear Mr Jones, I write to express concern about the safety of the new roundabout at the intersection of Tom Road and Jones Street in the suburb of Highwater. I live on Tom Road in Highwater, close to the intersection of concern. I do acknowledge that roundabouts are generally safer than other forms of controlled intersection and I congratulate the council for selecting this method of trafýc control. However, the design of the roundabout, and lack of visual markers for trafýc approaching the intersection from the north on Jones Street, are concerning. Although the roundabout is new, there are already
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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