Far bigger speeding risk than just a fine
PICTURE the scene. It’s 9pm, just two days before Christmas. Thousands of people are leaving Movie World in Oxenford after the last of its White Christmas shows which, as always, have been a huge hit with families.
Tired little ones snuggle in the back seats. Some are overtired after an evening of excitement and are crying. Their parents are getting jaded now too, sore feet from walking, sore shoulders from a little one held aloft for a perfect view of Santa passing in the parade. It’s been a great night, but it’s time to get on the road home.
It takes an age to get out of the car park as everyone tries to leave at once. When they do, while most cars turn on to the M1, some skip straight across the motorway junction and on to the near-empty Helensvale Rd. Freedom.
The temptation to push down on the pedal and take off is great. But it’s a costly mistake. Lurking in the darkness to the side of Helensvale Rd, barely visible, a police speed van waits, its trap set.
As a local who passes that location regularly, I was surprised to see the van. I’d never seen it there before. It seemed whoever had chosen that place at that time must have known what they were doing.
The immediate thought was that it was a low act to try to catch out people leaving a family-friendly event so close to Christmas.
To ping them with a $177 fine at a time when bills would be rolling in.
But there’s another way to look at it. The last people who should be speeding are parents carrying the most precious of cargoes – their children – in the back. There should be no excuses.
Gold Coast drivers have an appalling record when it comes to speeding.
Councillor William OwenJones, whose division includes Movie World and the Helensvale Rd location where that van was spotted, last month released shocking figures gleaned by council from ‘smiley face’ speed cameras on suburban roads in his area.
The cameras recorded a minimum of three in 10 drivers speeding as they approached. At one site, Halcyon Way in Hope Island, the figure was 67 per cent.
Other councillors have also reported shocking figures in their areas. Remember, these cameras are not on the M1. They’re located on suburban roads, where the speed limit is usually 50 or 60km/h. Roads lined by houses, where local children ride their bikes.
The figures mirror what is being reported by the QPS. From December 9 to January 29, when police were running their Christmas road safety campaign, speeding offences were up a massive 31 per cent on the previous year across Queensland.
And then there’s the most frightening statistic of all – the one that tells us that road fatalities on the Gold Coast have more than doubled in the last 12 months.
As we all know, Hinterland roads are especially bad. A two-day police blitz at Mount
Tamborine in October saw hundreds nabbed for speeding – 60 of them for being at least 40km/h over the limit.
It’s just crazy stuff. You have to ask what the hurry is – and why people think it’s worth risking not just a fine, but the pain and trauma of shattered lives.
On Monday, the community in Helensvale was understandably distressed to hear that a young boy was approached by a man who
asked him to get into a van while he was walking home from school.
The memory of Daniel Morcombe is never far from parents’ minds.
But these cases are mercifully rare. Speeding is not. It’s a real and present danger to our kids in these suburban areas too. There have been too many tragedies where speed is a factor, and innocent children have been the victims.
Is it a low act when cops get sneaky to catch errant motorists out as they leave a family event? Is it revenue raising?
Not a bit. If it makes people think again and slow down, it’s worth it. Especially when they’ve got children in the car.
Their lives are worth far more than any $177 ticket.