Yahoo Lifestyle Warning spray painted on dangerous Aussie road praised by motorists: ‘Work of a champion’
Outback residents were quick to praise the “anonymous hero” for alerting other drivers to the danger up ahead.
Spotting roads in a state of disrepair is becoming an increasingly familiar sight across Australia. But a recent message spray-painted onto an outback road has been praised by Aussies across the country as the quality of major transport links between cities is called into question.
Images posted to social media show the words "danger" and "big fkn hole" were spray painted onto the highway to warn oncoming vehicles of the treacherous pothole, said to be "nearly a foot deep".
"Hopefully that writing on the road (done by some anonymous fella) stays there for a while until the road gets patched up," said one Aussie who shared images of the messages to social media this week.
The man shared that he watched a road train hit the pothole at pace, with the cattle it was carrying becoming "airborne" in the process.
It’s understood that the image was taken near the Renner Springs Desert Inn on the Stuart Highway, a major network that runs from Darwin, NT, to Port Augusta in SA with a distance of 2,720km.
Aussies praise message on road
Outback residents were quick to praise the “anonymous hero” for being a “top bloke” and writing on the road.
"Things like this can easily ground a truck," said one commenter.
"Good on you," added another. "Sounds like someone did a good service to the driving public."
Many were also quick to criticise the quality of the road and question why it hasn’t been improved.
"Hope no one gets hurt or killed in those holes," said another, adding, "My son is a truck driver up there and he just told me the road is atrocious from the Qld border to Darwin.
"I know and realise they have had a lot of rain but I think they should have road gangs out there all the time trying to do something to the roads."
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State of roads constant pain point
It’s not the first time a fed-up local resident has called out authorities for their lack of action over holes in the road.
'Fix it you lazy pricks' was sprayed on an Adelaide road with an arrow pointing to an uneven kerb at a roundabout. It appears some work had been carried out to smooth the surface but it is seemingly incomplete, prompting the brutal call for action.
However, the issue is not exclusive to this stretch of road with several La Niña and flooding weather events in the past few years having a significant impact on road conditions, and it appears federal government funding is not keeping up with local councils' demand for resources.
Despite councils collectively managing around 75 per cent of Australia’s road network by length, only four per cent of national taxation goes toward road maintenance and repair, the Australia Local Government Association reported.
"The research shows that over the past 20 years federal Financial Assistance Grants have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of constructing and maintaining roads," Australian Local Government Association President Councillor Linda Scott said.
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