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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-04-04 Daily Xml
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EASTER ROAD SAFETY

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Road Safety. In the lead-up to the Easter long weekend, can the minister outline what actions will be taken to keep people safe on our roads?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:22): The Easter holiday period is often a treasured time with our families and one we all expect to enjoy without incident. With a bit of forward planning, we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from becoming another road safety statistic over the long weekend.

Today, I visited SAPOL's vehicle compound for cars that have been involved in horrific accidents. I think everyone who was present today would agree that it was incredibly confronting to see mangled vehicles in which someone had lost their life. I was joined by members of the South Australian police force, the Metropolitan Fire Service and the Country Fire Service to make a plea to all motorists this weekend to drive like their families' lives depend on it and to give our hardworking emergency services a break this Easter so that they, too, can spend time with their families over the Easter break.

The Country Fire Service attends around 1,000 road crashes every year—about 1,000 last year. This a volunteer service, so people are being pulled away from their own family celebrations, rescuing injured people and retrieving bodies from cars. For the Metropolitan Fire Service, it was around 4,000 crashes.

Today, Mr Chad Campbell spoke. He witnessed his father pass away following a crash on a country road after a family holiday. He bravely spoke to the media about the impact this had on his family and told me how heart wrenching it was to hear his little boy on special occasions say, 'I wish poppa were here.' Sadly, these experiences have been shared by the friends and families of the 103 people who died on our roads in 2011 and the 25 who have died so far this year. This Easter, police will be using all available resources in the hope of preventing a repeat of the tragic Easter break in 2005 when seven lives were lost.

We all enjoy hopping in the car and heading off on a weekend adventure. Drivers need to think of their holidays as starting once they arrive. Their responsibility is to get there safely. Their holiday is over once they hop in the car to come home. This March a total of 10 people have died on country roads, and 75 per cent these crashes have been attributed to fatigue. I urge people: plan your trip, take breaks and be patient.

Police will crack down on the non-use of seatbelts over the long weekend. It defies belief that in 2011, after years and years of campaigns warning people about the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt, 30 per cent of those who died in road crashes last year were not wearing a seatbelt. There is no excuse for speeding. There is no excuse to drive with alcohol or drugs in your system, and there is no excuse not to wear a seatbelt. People need to be mindful that in the flick of a eye a little bit of inattention can change their lives and that of their family forever. Mr Campbell's story indicates the true cost of road trauma. Our South Australian police will be out in force this weekend. Motorists need to take care.

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