Drive safe this festive season

AS we prepare for one of the happiest times of the year, a time of celebration and joy for families, authorities are bracing for one of the worst on our roads and in our households.

Sadly, road crashes and fatalities and domestic violence soar over the Christmas-New Year period.

The combination of increased traffic on our roads, particularly main arterials such as the Bruce Highway, speed, impatience, fatigue, drugs and alcohol are a lethal mixture.

Booze and substance abuse and the pressures of the festive season take their toll on families as well.

The Queensland road toll is 212 as at December 15, which is 17 less than last year, but regional areas, particularly the Far North, were buckling the trend with at least 50 deaths during 2019.

The state’s most senior traffic cop, Road Policing Unit Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating, is pleading with drivers to take care.

He’s worried about complacency in regional areas, particularly people not wearing seat belts and drinkdriving, as well as speed and distractions, mainly mobile phones.

One issue is frustration and impatience with slower drivers and the lack of overtaking lanes. The government says it has added 69 overtaking lanes on the Bruce Highway this year.

Cairns will receive a boost when work starts on the Edmonton-to-Gordonvale stretch next year.

In the meantime authorities are urging motorists to show restraint and care on the roads, allow for more time to reach their destinations safely and alive to celebrate the festive season with loved ones.

Please don’t become a statistic.

Nick Dalton

Deputy editor