December 20, 2012
Who’s most likely to die on South Burnett roads? It’s not tourists or city folk, it’s local residents driving along a highway or rural road.
Research from the Gympie Police District shows there are a number of common denominators associated with fatal traffic crashes in the area.
According to District Superintendent Chris Sang, these include speeding and/or not paying attention, living in the district and driving along a highway or rural road where the speed limit is over 80km/h.
And the fatal crash is most likely to occur between 5:00pm and 5:00am and between Friday and Monday.
“Not paying attention includes speaking on a mobile telephone, texting, eating food, adjusting the music, lighting a cigarette and simply not concentrating,” Supt Sang said.
Supt Sang said police investigations into crashes on local roads over the past 12 months showed many incidents occurred when people had been on the phone, reaching for cigarettes, adjusting the radio or distracted by animals in the vehicle.
“The Gympie Police District has a target of Zero Fatal Traffic Crashes for the Christmas and New Year period (December 14 to January 28),” he said.
“Loss of any life in a road crash is not acceptable and the despair is cast broadly for family and friends and the emergency services. We urge everyone in the community to help us stop the senseless and disturbing road toll trend across the State.”
We implore all motorists to concentrate on their driving. Don’t speed, don’t drive if you’re fatigued, wear your seatbelt, don’t drink and drive, don’t use mobile telephones when driving and above all, pay attention to your driving at all times.”
Supt Sang said Gympie police will continue an enforcement operation over Christmas and New Year to catch and charge drivers who speed, drink-drive, fail to wear seatbelts, don’t pay attention to their driving and put themselves and other drivers at risk.
“We are pleading for motorists to take extra care on our roads, follow the Fatal Five and ensure they don’t become another statistic,” he said.
Since December 14, police in the South Burnett have issued nearly 100 traffic tickets, the majority for speeding.
They have also conducted nearly 700 random breath tests and charged six people with drink driving.
Fortunately, there have been no fatal traffic crashes in the South Burnett since December 14 … something that we’d all like to keep that way!
- Related article: A Fifth Way To Die
