Warning for motorists who remove road closed signs

The City of Wagga Wagga’s General Manager Alan Eldridge has issued a warning to motorists who drive around, damage or remove road closed signs – “it is an offence and you are putting people’s lives at risk.”

“Removing, damaging or driving around a road closed sign is not only irresponsible and costly to the community, it is illegal,” Mr Eldridge said.

Under section 115 of the Roads Act 1993 it is illegal for a person to wilfully disregard, damage, remove or interfere with a road barrier and it is a fineable offence. The warning comes as a number of roads across the Local Government Area remained closed following the flood events of the past several weeks.

“While the water may have receded, the roads are still not in a condition for vehicles to travel on and ignoring road closures is unsafe and will further damage the road network,” Mr Eldridge said.

“We have engineers out inspecting our roads to ensure they are safe to drive on and will open roads when we have undertaken the necessary repairs and made them safe.

“I understand it can be frustrating for some motorists, especially heavy vehicle drivers, who have to detour but Council has an obligation to the entire community to ensure the safety of everyone who use our roads.

“We take the removal and damage of our road closed barriers very seriously and anybody seen interfering with Council signage should report these offences to NSW Police.”

NSW Police say that it is not worth the risk of a fine, or injury, to save a few minutes travel time.

“Motorists cannot take it upon themselves to remove road barriers because they think it is safe, or convenient, to do so,” Inspector Adrian Telfer said.

“Road barriers are in place for the safety of all road users. As the driver it’s your responsibility to follow road rules, which includes temporary road closures.”

A full list of road closures can be found at www.wagga.nsw.gov.au/roads