If Matt Augustyn's step-father in law, Mike Avis, was standing six inches further away from his ute on The Avenue in Mount St Thomas things would have been a lot worse.
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As it was, when a driver hit the side of his ute at speed, Mr Avis came away with a bloodied and bruised arm.
"More than anything he was shaken up, because six inches over and he would have been pancaked against his ute," Mr Augustyn said.
The incident came only a week after Mr Augustyn's own car was written off after a speeding driver lost control and rear ended his parked car.
These incidents and others have galvanised the Mount St Thomas community to push for changes to traffic conditions on The Avenue, which they say has been turned into a rat run.
Matt Geary has organised a petition with over 500 signatures and written to council to raise the issue.
"There are more cars on the road and more kids on the road because kids walk to Mount St Thomas Public School," he said.
Mr Geary says that he sees drivers travelling at up to 80km/h on the 40km/h street. To address this the petition calls for speed bumps and a footpath to be installed on The Avenue.
"If you give kids and people in general somewhere safe to walk, that's something, but the main thing is to encourage people not to use the street as a commuting corridor, because it's a very narrow street," Mr Geary said.
Ward 2 Councillor Cath Blakey said the issue has been raised with council staff over many years but has not yet been made a priority.
"The infrastructure delivery plan is a four year plan that has lots of new footpaths, and there's a few in Mangerton, but sadly The Avenue has not been identified yet," she said.
In response to the same issue, a council spokesperson in December said the council was working with Mount St Thomas Public School to improve student safety.
"Pedestrian safety is an important priority for council, especially around high traffic areas such as local schools and we recognise that some community members also find this an area of concern," the spokesperson said.
At the time, the council spokesperson did not identify any planned safety upgrades for The Avenue.
In a letter to Ward 2 councillors seen by The Mercury, Mr Geary asks for the matter to be raised at the next council meeting on May 2.
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