‘Loved ones pay penalty’
Heartfelt appeal over toll
Our emergency services have issued a challenge to Darling Downs drivers.
They want everyone who gets behind the wheel to imagine that every other person they see on the road is a loved one; a brother, sister, mother, father or best mate.
They hope this exercise will lead to road users being more cautious and compassionate and reduce the number of serious and fatal traffic crashes.
Speaking at the launch of National Road Safety Week at LifeFlight’s Toowoomba base, Darling Downs City Patrol Group Inspector Paul James asked drivers to reflect on the first line of the Road Safety pledge.
“I pledge to drive as if my loved ones are on the road ahead,” he said.
“That is a really important message.”
“Generally we don’t see that people want to have an accident, but it is something that happens through inattention or bad judgment, or distraction.
“It really drives home the responsibility on everyone to take road safety seriously, because it will be someone’s loved one who will pay the penalty for mistakes that are made on the road, whether it is yours or someone else.
“Those people are no less loved than your own loved ones.”
As of May 15, 88 lives have been lost on the state’s roads, including 22 in the Queensland Police Service’s Southern Region, which takes in the Darling Downs, Lockyer Valley and Southwest Queensland. Most recently, a 21-yearold Victorian man died after his Toyota HiLux left the road and rolled on Diamantina Developmental Road about 20km west of Charleville on Saturday.
The man’s body went unnoticed for a day and half before passing motorists raised the alarm.
Queensland Ambulance Service superintendent Glen Maule said the number of serious and fatal crashes remained stubbornly high.
“The trauma of a road traffic crash can affect a victim for a lifetime, but this is also the case for emergency services who come face-to-face with the carnage of traffic crashes every day,” he said.
Supt Maule called on motorists to go back to the basics, to take regular breaks on long trips, to scan for hazards while driving and to have plenty of options for keeping children entertained so drivers could focus on the road ahead.
“Paramedics see first-hand how a simple measure like wearing a seatbelt can be the difference between a person being ejected from a vehicle or escaping with barely a scratch,” he said.
“Think before speeding, think before sending a text and think before having that one last drink.”