QLD Road Safety Week: Motorists urged to make better decisions behind the wheel

MOTORISTS travelling on the Bruce Highway will see a ‘road accident’ on the side of the motorway this week, as local authorities try push home their messages around road safety.

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Police say the ‘road accident’ will be staged in the vicinity of Torbanlea.

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Queensland Road Safety Week got underway on Monday, 16 August and runs until Friday, 20 August.

Wide Bay emergency services gathered yesterday to remind motorists about the importance of road safety and doing the right thing when behind the wheel.

One of their main messages was ‘road safety first, every life matters.’

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Road safety is a collective responsibility, but it starts with individual road users doing the right thing – irrespective of whether you’re a driver, passenger, pedestrian, bicycle rider or motorbike rider.

Queenslanders are being urged to Sign Up For Road Safety again this year by sharing their safety messages in a visual display on social media.

Meanwhile, Queensland Police Service Assistant Commissioner Ben Marcus launched a series of road safety videos that will be played across QPS social media accounts this week.

They aim to raise awareness around the dangers of unsafe driving behaviour. The videos feature forensic crash officers, firefighters, paramedics and a trauma surgeon.

Some 174 lives have been lost on Queensland’s roads so far this year – that’s 19 more than the same time last year.

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“We have a problem here in Queensland, and that is that too many drivers are taking risks that end in disaster,” Assistant Commissioner Marcus said.

“These videos are intentionally confronting but unfortunately, the scene depicted has been the reality for far too many Queenslanders.

“It was important for us to work with our fellow emergency services members to show the impact a crash has – on the casualties and their families, but also the police, paramedics, firefighters and health professionals whose job is to deal with these preventable events.

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“We know that most crashes are preventable – the simple act of putting on your seatbelt, slowing down or ignoring your phone can make all the difference in whether you reach your destination safely or if you end up being extracted from a vehicle by emergency services.

“We don’t see the people lost on our roads as just a number – they are people just like us, with families and loved ones. They can choose to make safer decisions behind the wheel that will prevent them from appearing in a real-life scenario very much like the crash depicted in these videos.

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“We are doing everything we can to prevent any more lives being lost on our roads, but we need motorists to stop and listen.

“Every single driver has the opportunity to make better decisions on the road that will result in them avoiding tragic consequences.”