April 30, 2021
With another long weekend upon us, South Burnett police are urging motorists to drive carefully and not add more lives to Queensland’s mounting road toll.
Road safety was the key message at Friday morning’s “Coffee With A Cop” held at Muffin Break in Kingaroy Shoppingworld.
Representatives from the QFES, QAS and local police chatted with members of the public.
All three emergency services have dealt with too many horrific car crashes – never “accidents” – in the South Burnett over recent years, including several fatal incidents already this year.
And the problem is Statewide.
So far this year, 90 lives have been lost on Queensland roads.
This long weekend, police will be conducting Operation Tango Charisma, targeting dangerous driver behaviour across Queensland.
The plea to drive safely coincides with data released by the Australian Road Safety Foundation which found that 78 per cent of Australians admitting to speeding – one of the Fatal Five and a key cause of crashes.
The data shows women are more likely than men to speed, with an alarming 81 per cent of female drivers admitting to the risky behaviour.
And more than two-thirds of Australians admit to having broken a road rule, with a quarter of people doing so at least once a week.
When it came to the reasons for undertaking these potentially life-threatening behaviours, half of Australian drivers said it was due to inattention (50 per cent), followed by the belief that it was safe to do so (30 per cent).
“Individuals have a responsibility to make the right choices when using the roads and it is imperative they understand the devastating consequences their choices can have not just on other road users, but on the wider community,” ARSF CEO Russell White said.
