I had the honour of representing our local police at the launch of Road Safety Week at the Goulburn Merino site on Monday evening.
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Road Safety Week is a global initiative to increase awareness of road safety issues in our community. Road deaths are the biggest killer of young people worldwide and the 10th biggest killer of people of all ages.
I have seen the devastating impact on local families and communities as a result of losing loved ones due to traffic collisions.
Most road crashes and fatalities are caused by or involve behavioural factors, for example speeding, driver inattention or drink-driving. Most casualties can be prevented by people altering their behaviour – especially drivers, who hold a particular responsibility for protecting others around them. This means there is much scope for preventing road casualties by raising awareness of how people can protect themselves and others.
Road Safety Week is but one initiative to raise awareness and act as a focal point for the communication of road safety messages. We want to increase awareness of these issues to help transform attitudes, normalise responsible driving, and build cultural disapproval of risk taking. Locally I have witnessed the avoidable deaths on our roads and we are very willing to support such initiatives.
President of Safer Roads and Highways (SARAH) Peter Frazer spoke at this event.
Having lost his 23 year-old daughter due to an accident on the Hume Highway at Mittagong in 2012, his message was extremely moving and powerful.
There have been great improvements as a result of numerous strategies introduced to improve road safety, however drivers need to take that personal responsibility and be aware of their behaviour on the roads.
I strongly encourage anyone reading this to have a look at the SARAH website and take the pledge to "Drive so others survive".
We have one of the busiest roads in Australia, so please drive so others survive!
Until next week...