HEARTACHE ROAD

GOLD Coast motorists have 23 million reasons this morning to ease their foot off the accelerator.

But that figure can be trumped by just the number one – that is, a single fatal crash that claimed the life of a teenage boy.

Speeding fines in the Coast’s police region totalled $23 million in 2017, enough – as we report today – to pay for well over 300 teachers or nurses.

But the real reason drivers should watch their speed, or keep an eye on the road ahead and not be distracted, or not drive fatigued or any other reason that contributes to the road toll, lies in that terrible tragedy that came in an instant on Sunday and like every other road death, must sound a warning to all drivers.

The devastating impact of the teen’s death has rippled out through not only his grieving family and friends, but an entire school community and beyond. This is what happens. A single road death has farreaching, dreadful consequences. Families are shattered, a future is destroyed, and social and economic impacts are long term.