Dogs are barking

CUTTING funding from such a great service as YAPS is nothing short of appalling and disgusting. The council has got their priorities very, very, wrong. Just stinks and no other word for it. Darren Wood, Cairns Why does it take a passenger 1 hour 35 minutes to disembark a plane and go through the airport at 5am last Sunday at our international airport? There were not enough processing staff on duty and tired passengers just had to put up with it. Who cares? Steve Porter, Woree driving” or “auto reply” function on smartphones that are designed to block incoming calls, texts and notifications while you’re driving.

As a road safety advocate, I often see people’s lives catastrophically changed in an instant as a result of distracted driving. In fact, Queensland Government statistics reveal that people using phones and other mobile devices while driving are four times more likely to crash. I welcome this important initiative.

Already in 2017, we have seen 115 people die on Queensland’s roads, two more than at the same point last year. Sadly these accidents are often preventable.

Safety measures such as the “do not disturb” function on smart phones are an important step in reducing road fatalities, however prevention is always key to making sure we all arrive home safely at the end of every day.

I urge those in the Cairns region to use these smartphone functions before they get behind the wheel. It might save a life. Tanya Straguszi, principal Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Cairns