17 Oct 2018 Kyabram Free Press, Kyabram VIC (General News) by Michael Mattingly SES volunteers able to practise road crash rescues VEHICLES abandoned on freeways and highways in the North East are being donated to the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) for training. Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes recently announced a partnership between VicRoads and VICSES, which will put unclaimed vehicles to good use in a range of rescue simulations. Ms Symes said these vehicles would be used by the 24 road crash units across the region that respond to incidents and help volunteers learn valuable skills such as how to access road crash victims quickly and remove them safely. During this training, teams use the cars to practice with shears better known as the jaws of life spreaders, air bags and a range of other equipment. Prior to this partnership with VicRoads, VICSES struggled to find modern vehicles to practice on and train their volunteers. These nuisance cars, which might otherwise be turned into scrap metal, can now help to improve our volunteer training, and ultimately help us save lives on Victorian roads, VICSES North East regional manager Keith OBrien said. Abandoned vehicles removed from arterial roads and unclaimed after all reasonable attempts to contact the owner (including a 14-day written notice period) may be legally acquired by VicRoads pursuant to the Road Management Act 2004. Were glad to play a small role in helping our SES volunteers train and protect our community and ultimately save lives, Ms Symes said. Putting these unclaimed vehicles to good use makes sense rather than ending up on the scrap heap, these vehicles will be used to train our hard-working SES volunteers. This is also a great example of our government agencies VicRoads and SES working together to save lives.