I’ve been reading a lot over recent weeks about Road Safety Week, and the numbers which are currently plaguing our roads.
There are a rising number of deaths, injuries and other accidents which police keep telling us are associated with speed, alcohol and drugs.
I read that high-tech speed cameras will be in school zones and roadworks areas. It’s world-first technology but high time in my opinion.
The transport minister Mark Bailey said it well: “I don’t want to see another roadworker killed, or someone’s child badly injured on their way to school because of the reckless actions of a speeding driver.”
In the same story, he said 1484 drivers were clocked doing more than 20km per hour over the speed limit in school zones over the past 12 months.
These figures are atrocious, so it’s no wonder the number of accidents is flying through the roof.
I thought it was timely to thank all the emergency workers for what they are doing to clean up the mess.
Think about the first responders, the ambulance workers who are required to assess people’s health at the scene of every accident.
Think about the police who are there to manage the impact and fallout of accidents, yet who are witness to the sometimes tragic results.
Think about the LifeFlight team who airlifts some of the most critically injured victims to hospitals.
And think about the fire fighting teams who are trained to use the jaws of life and other tools to cut victims from the wreckage following an accident.
The recent bus crash at Mundoolun was one incident where a lot of people were injured in the same place, but there have also been a disturbing number of single-vehicle accidents of late.
If that’s not enough to make someone stop using their mobile phone as they drive, or to take their foot off the pedal a little, I really don’t know what is.
M Thompson
Park Ridge
