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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-15 Daily Xml
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World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (12:24): I move:

That this house—

(a) notes that World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is 19 November 2023;

(b) expresses its deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the people who have lost their lives and suffered serious injuries on South Australian roads;

(c) recognises that the emotional trauma experienced by family and friends of road traffic victims is often devastating and ongoing; and

(d) acknowledges the ongoing efforts made by South Australia Police, communities and all other relevant organisations committed to reducing road deaths.

Imagine for a second that you are at home on the couch watching your favourite Netflix drama and the doorbell rings. Now, who could it be at this late hour? You open the door and there are two police officers standing there. You instantly feel sick because there are only a very few reasons that officers knock on your door late at night.

You realise that your loved one is not at home yet and your heart sinks as the officers come in to tell you that your loved one has been involved in a serious car accident. The best outcome is that they are in the hospital, but then it is unlikely that police would be there to tell you that. No, they are there to tell you something much worse: they are there to tell you that your loved one will not be coming home, that when they left that morning it was the last time you would see them, that they did not survive the impact of the crash, that they have gone.

You can never really recover from something like that. The next time you might see officers come to your house might be to ask you whether you have seen anything suspicious or if they are searching for a missing person. Your heart immediately jumps into your mouth and the feeling of absolute shock instantly returns.

That feeling will never go away: the loss of a loved one so suddenly with no warning—there in the morning and gone at the end of the day. Families who are left behind to pick up the pieces, trying to keep going, is an everyday battle and they all have my heart.

This motion recognises this loss in a whole-of-world context. It recognises the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year—this Sunday.

It is a high-profile global event to remember the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured on the world's roads, and to acknowledge the suffering of all affected victims, families and communities, with millions added each year to countless millions already suffering—a truly tremendous cumulative toll, and a lot of fateful doors to knock on for our police officers. As such, this day also pays tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who deal daily with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes.

As a first responder, I have been to quite a number of road crashes but thankfully none that have resulted in a fatality. The wreckage is something else. Cars crumple so easily and human bodies are so vulnerable to impact even if it does not appear that there has been any damage.

Earlier this year I led my crew to a head-on car accident on Upper Sturt Road. It was probably the most serious accident that I had attended. It was a wet day and the cars slid and collided. I approached the vehicle to check on the driver. You know, kids grow up pretty quickly, and it took me a while to recognise that I knew him.

It was somebody I had known for a long time, someone I had known since he was a little boy in fact, someone who was good friends with my son. They went to school together and his mum and dad and I are also close. The shock for me was instant, and I relinquished my OIC role immediately to ensure that I could focus on this young man and on contacting his parents.

He seemed mostly unharmed. As is the case with many road crashes—at least the ones I have been to—there is magically always a nurse, a paramedic or a doctor who happens to be driving on the road at the same time. They pull up like a guardian angel and their instinct to help kicks in instantly. They are calm and so incredibly welcomed by emergency services whilst we wait for the ambulance and paramedics to arrive. This was the case for young Liam. In fact, there were two nurses. One was even an intensive care nurse on her way home from her shift.

As I said, he seemed okay, but we kept him in his seat until the ambos were able to assist. The Blackwood CFS road crash brigade arrived and began the work to get him out of the car, all while I was keeping his parents updated. Liam went off to hospital and it was not until he got there and the doctors could look at him that they realised his injuries were actually a lot more serious. His rib had sliced his bowel and he was in a lot of trouble. I will not go into any further gory detail, but thankfully he is okay, albeit after quite an extensive recovery, and we are all very glad about that.

Liam was lucky; many others are not. In fact, this year alone, as of 12 November, 97 people have lost their lives on roads in South Australia. That is 97 doors that have been knocked on by SAPOL officers. That number is up from 61 this time last year and a five-year average of 76 lives lost. The number of lives lost on South Australia's roads so far in 2023 is around 28 per cent higher than the long-term average.

The number of serious injuries is also around 18 per cent higher. Some other Australian jurisdictions are also experiencing a similar trend or did so last year. This follows the state last year recording its lowest ever number of lives lost, at 71. Tragically, road-user behaviour has been identified as a factor by SAPOL in many of these crashes in 2023, including 11 lives lost where the person was not even wearing a seatbelt, and 10 where the person was unlicensed.

While safety barriers and other road safety treatments can help reduce the severity of a crash, when people engage in dangerous road behaviour, they put themselves and others at risk. There have been 728 serious injuries as at 12 November 2023, compared with 599 by the same date last year. There are a lot of crash statistics that we could trawl through, but the overwhelming and alarmingly tragic statistic is that they all point to a big increase in deaths and serious injury.

As I said previously, driver fatalities are showing the largest increase from the five-year average. Forty-eight drivers have died, 14 pedestrians have lost their lives, 20 motorcyclists have lost their lives, seven cyclists have lost their lives and eight passengers have lost their lives. Drivers and riders need to slow down, drive to conditions, not be distracted by mobile phones, and take rest stops. We have heard these messages forever, so why are they not getting through?

Our government is committed to seeing these numbers decrease. We are committed to doing what we can to educate, make roads safer and commit to strategies. This year, we launched South Australia's Road Safety Action Plan 2023-25. The action plan was informed by consultation and feedback received during the development of South Australia's Road Safety Strategy to 2031 and implements state actions under the National Road Safety Action Plan 2023-25.

This Road Safety Strategy has a target to reduce serious casualties on South Australian roads to fewer than 43 lives lost and fewer than 474 serious injuries by 2031. Of course, we would like to see that figure be zero, but some accidents are at no fault of drivers or pedestrians and some can just be an accident.

The action plan sets out actions across ten focus areas: schools and local places; public transport, cycling and walking; motorcyclists; Aboriginal road users; road user behaviour; road safety in the workplace; regional and remote areas; heavy vehicles; vehicles and technology; and research and data. Our government is investing $98 million on a new road safety package to tackle South Australia's high road toll. More than half of the funding is dedicated to new road safety infrastructure, with a further $10 million to be spent over four years on targeted road safety initiatives on rural roads, including audio tactile line marking, safety barriers, and rural junction warning system signage.

As part of this, an additional $13.4 million was allocated for an estimated 10 additional mobile phone detection cameras to deter dangerous behaviour, bringing the total funding to $15.9 million for 17 cameras in total. The Department for Infrastructure and Transport is working closely with SAPOL to determine the location of these cameras.

This government is committed to addressing the scourge of fatalities and series injuries on our roads. A key part of that response is achieving behavioural change through targeted initiatives that resonate with cohorts of drivers that are over-represented in road accidents. The THINK! Road Safety Partnerships Program, managed by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, supports road safety initiatives at a grassroots level.

The aim of the program is for road safety to be at the core of every club, business and organisation and to influence individuals and achieve cultural change. They do this through supporting community road safety initiatives, helping local organisations address road safety at a grassroots level, increasing the range of organisations and sectors where road safety becomes a key part of the way they operate, leveraging partner organisations' influence and reach into their communities, and to engage or address emerging and recurring road safety issues. They also promote road safety priorities, understanding and support. The program is aligned to the national and state road safety strategies, and the following target audiences have been identified to help deliver initiatives for road safety strategic priorities:

Young road users, 16 to 24, with a focus on those living in regional and remote areas;

Road users living in regional and remote areas;

Older road users aged 70 plus; and

Aboriginal road users.

The program aligns with the THINK! Road Safety initiative and has recently introduced consistent partnership evaluation approach and assessment criteria for existing and new partners. The following current partnerships in the 2023-24 financial year fall under three partnership categories. The first is Community Road, and includes:

the Alcohol and Drug Foundation;

Motorcycle Riders Association;

Encounter Youth Schoolies Festival;

Power Community;

the South Australian Tourism Commission's Tour Down Under 2024 Event; and

the SANFL community football leagues.

Secondly, road safety education:

Kidsafe SA;

the RAA's Steet Smart High;

the RAA's Street Smart Primary;

the SA Metropolitan Fire Service;

Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.); and

the Caravan and Camping Industries Association of South Australia.

Thirdly, the Road Safety Ambassadors where we are fortunate to have so many influential people come on board:

the Adelaide 36ers;

the Adelaide Football Club;

Adelaide Lightning;

the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority;

the Adelaide United Football Club;

the Port Adelaide Football Club; and

the Get Home Safe Foundation.

We have also introduced, and since passed, three pieces of road safety legislation in 2021. The first was the Statutes Amendment (Transport Portfolio) Bill 2021; secondly, the Criminal Law Consolidation (Driving at Extreme Speed) Amendment Bill; and the Road Traffic (Drug Driving and Careless or Dangerous Driving) Amendment Bill.

The Statutes Amendment Bill (Serious Vehicle and Vessel Offences) Bill was also introduced in the Legislative Council on 30 November 2022, three months after the District Court decision in the case against Alexander Campbell regarding the death of Sophia Naismith in June 2019. The bill was passed by the Legislative Council on 16 May and by the House of Assembly, without amendment, on 6 July 2023. It was assented to on 13 July 2023, and is yet to commence.

The amendment act provides for a new offence in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act of careless driving or operating a vessel which causes death or serious harm, and a new offence in the Road Traffic Act of disabling a vehicle's automated intervention systems, including features such as electronic stability control and traction control. It will not bring Sophia back, but it is hopeful that it will act as a deterrent and save countless lives in the future. We thank the Naismith family for their advocacy on this, and express our deepest condolences to them and all of Sophia's family and friends.

Also in response to this horrific accident, our government introduced regulations that will require drivers of ultra high-powered vehicles to hold a licence demonstrating that they have undergone specific training. SAPOL and the department are working closely to implement the offences and the required training for the new licence class.

On 26 May 2023, the Governor in Executive Council made the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous) (Photographic Detection Devices) Amendment Regulations 2023, which amend the legislative requirements for the testing of all speed and red-light cameras on South Australian roads. This law gives SAPOL the ability to successfully prosecute camera-detected offences in contributing to improved road safety by ensuring the state's camera-detection regime is operational and at an optimal level. The road traffic amendment regulations 2023 bill came into operation on 1 July 2023.

Let's face it: we can have hundreds of pieces of legislation but, in the end, it comes down to the driver: the choices they make to be safe, to consider how their behaviour can affect others, not only if they meet with grief, but their passengers, other drivers and their passengers, pedestrians, and the impact the accident has on our emergency services, our police and our medical professionals, and on the family and friends they leave behind. Everyone is impacted by a bad decision—everyone.

I will take this opportunity to thank our first responders. What they witness can sometimes be life changing. Many cope, some do not, and we need to ensure that everyone recovers from an accident. It was the key driver in our election commitment of $1.9 million over four years to increase mental health and wellbeing support to our more than 15,000 volunteer emergency service first responders, staff and families in the emergency services sector.

The budget measure increases the vital resources to the SPAM area of SAFECOM. It will facilitate the continuation of current programs and the provision of a substantial strategic approach to respond to the growing number of potentially traumatic and stressful incidents that our volunteer workforce attends.

Stress Prevention and Management (SPAM) is a 24/7 rostered helpline for emergency services volunteers and staff, including SAFECOM, CFS and SES. SPAM services include support after incidents, acting as a conduit between EAP providers and the agencies and proactive preventative measures.

Volunteer emergency services workforce members can face a complex range of mental health risk factors due to the nature of these emergency service provisions, which can include but is not limited to anxiety, depression and PTSD. Mental health issues in the emergency services can also—

The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Clancy): Member for Waite, your time has expired.

Ms HUTCHESSON: I move that this motion be supported by all here today as we remember those who have not made it home.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley) (12:40): I rise to support the motion that has been moved by the member for Waite. I, too, support:

That this house—

(a) notes that World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is 19 November 2023;

(b) expresses its deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the people who have lost their lives and suffered serious injuries on South Australian roads;

(c) recognises that the emotional trauma experienced by family and friends of road traffic victims is often devastating and ongoing; and

(d) acknowledges the ongoing efforts made by South Australia Police, communities and all other relevant organisations committed to reducing road deaths.

I absolutely support this motion. We know that too many lives are being lost on our roads. We know that we have had one of the worst years when it comes to lives lost on our roads for nearly 20 years. Unfortunately, we are only a matter of days, maybe weeks, away from seeing 100 lives lost on our roads. We know that that number is absolutely off the charts and whilst there is a very strong coordinated effort from a whole range of areas aiming to tackle this problem, we know that it is just not doing the job at the moment.

When I was looking at this motion, we had 97 road deaths to date. I believe we are now at 98 road deaths to date and it may have actually increased, but it may have been brought back due to police conducting their work and perhaps the criteria not resulting in that number going up. If it is 98 at the moment, as at this point in time, it is compared with 61 which was quoted by the member at the same time in 2022. In the last 20 years on South Australian roads we have seen a total of 11 years of over 100 fatalities. In 2023, as I mentioned, we are on track to unfortunately be another year of over 100 deaths on our roads.

It is just not acceptable that there seems to be this level of complacency by some, by a small portion in the community, that that number is acceptable. It is not acceptable. It is far too many lives lost on our roads. Every one of these lives lost on our roads is a tragedy and we all need to be doing more to tackle the issue.

In saying that, the work that South Australia Police and relevant organisations and communities do on a daily basis is exceptional. It does not go unnoticed. I know that the member is part of her local CFS brigade, but they say that every time there is one of these incidents, especially a fatality, it actually affects hundreds of people when you look at the first responders. I want to take this opportunity to thank bodies such as SAPOL, the CFS, the MFS, and the SES for what they do in going out to these very often traumatic sites and being the first responders at these scenes. I want to thank bodies such as the RAA and the Motorcycle Riders Association, Ebi and Cathy and their team, for the work they do in being positive role models and ambassadors for road safety.

I recall a press conference I conducted a couple of years ago where we did partner—and the member for Waite mentioned some of these partnerships. It was the week of the Showdown. I think the Crows won that week, but I might be mistaken.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Yes. They certainly won the last couple anyway, I reckon. That is what counts. I digress. I will come back to the point. We partnered up with these key stakeholder groups and organisations, the Adelaide Crows and Port Power. We had Darcy Byrne-Jones and Jake Kelly, who unfortunately went back to Melbourne. It was a good example of these organisations that have a lot of members in the state coming together for a good cause, and that is to serve as positive role models and ambassadors for good road safety. So it is the first responders and also these bodies who serve as positive road safety ambassadors.

In our time of government, we laid the groundwork for things like the mobile phone detection cameras, which are starting to be rolled out now, and new offences for extreme speed, excessive speed, immediate loss of licence for drug driving. So a number of these penalties and tougher measures were brought in, but unfortunately for some people the message is still not getting through and for some reason the deterrent effect is just not there at the moment. That is disappointing; that is something that we as a society have to tackle.

On this World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, on 19 November, it is important to highlight the heartfelt loss and trauma experienced by those impacted and also to remember the loved ones who have been lost due to road death. Far too many lives are being lost, especially young people's at the moment. Also on that day we highlight the importance of survivors of road traffic incidents and the trauma they experience on a daily basis following the accident.

I, too, want to thank those organisations that do wonderful work in this regard. I also want to thank the family and friends of those who have been affected by road trauma for having the courage to come forward to tell their story and serve as positive role models, hoping to change bad driver behaviour. I have seen some exceptional incidences where families come forward to tell their story, and that is captivating stuff. I know that that also reaches people in a different way. I have seen it happen with some of the SAPOL ads. I have seen it where some of the families of these victims of road fatalities are able to go out to schools and connect with young people. Some of the most positive changes I have seen in young driver behaviour are when the families and friends of those who have been killed on our roads come forward to tell their story, and it really connects with young people.

So I want to thank those organisations that make a difference. I want to thank the communities that make a difference. I want to thank the family and friends who care for those victims and those victims' families as well. As an opposition and as the shadow minister for road safety, we will continue to work with government on making our roads safer. Nobody should be on the road and have the possibility of not returning home to their loved ones at any time.

We know that this is a particularly challenging time on our roads. We know as the festive season is upon us, people spend more time on the roads. It is just a reminder to everybody about the perils of poor driver behaviour. I ask everybody out there to please do the right thing on our roads. We know the road toll this year is off the charts. It is not good enough. We are coming into the festive season. We all need to take our time, slow down and do the right thing on our roads.

We need to work on other things as well. We have seen some comments overnight from the Auditor-General in regard to road projects. We all have to do better when it comes to road maintenance. We have to do a better job when it comes to road safety and technical requirements around vehicles. There is so much we need to be doing on a policy front. But if the government comes forward with a sensible policy idea that effects positive change in this area, then as an opposition we will be constructive and we will support it.

Once more, I want to take this opportunity to thank the member for Waite for bringing this motion. We certainly will support it and let's remember road traffic victims on this day. Let's remember their friends, their families. We thank the first responders for all they do and, collectively, I think we all need to be doing better in this regard. I commend the motion to the house.

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (12:49): I, too, rise to support the motion put forward by the honourable member. In doing so, I would like to put on the record some of the concerns that my local community have raised, particularly around road safety in the northern Adelaide Hills. It is safe to say that the lives we have seen lost on our regional roads, indeed the fatalities we have seen in South Australia, have been absolutely heartbreaking. The fact that 97 lives have been lost in arguably avoidable incidents is something we all need to reflect on, and I have been delighted to hear just some of the contributions made today in addressing this. It is very much a bipartisan issue that we need to work across the house to see addressed. One life lost on our roads is one too many.

I have certainly seen many in the northern Adelaide Hills, and just the other week I held a road safety forum in Cudlee Creek because it is around the northern Adelaide Hills where we have seen, frankly, quite a lot of reckless behaviour, whether it is motorists or those on motorcycles. The impact that has, not just on the families who lose a loved one and on the community in which the accident happens but also on our first responders, cannot be underestimated.

When I held my local community forum, I was fortunate enough to have a member of the Minister for Police's team in attendance and also a number of local CFS officers there. They spoke about the sheer heartache they have of being the first people on the scene; the impact that has on them, as has been reflected by the member, is in many ways lifelong. It stays with people when you are first on a scene.

In many ways they do not think a second about it, of course you would go to a road incident in your local community, but there are some dreadful circumstances where, as a first responder, you do not know the circumstances you are about to attend. Seeing someone who is a part of your community either lose their life or be seriously injured is something worth reflecting on. We are trying to prevent those circumstances from happening.

Following on from the road safety forum I held, I made a number of requests to the minister, and again I thank him and his team for facilitating the forum and having two local police officers there. It was really important that it was a two-way conversation with many of the locals so that they could put on the record some of their concerns. When you live in a regional community and there are only a couple of ways to get from A to B, you do tend to note a distinct change in driver behaviour, and we are seeing that in the northern Adelaide Hills—and people are sick of it.

We are seeing hoon drivers, we are seeing tailgating all the time, we are seeing motorcyclists crossing over double white lines. Obviously on Gorge Road, Lower North East Road, North East Road, Tippett Road in my electorate, the width of the road is something that in many cases cannot be changed, but what can be changed is driver attitude. We have to do better as a parliament and as a community, in innovative ways, so that the message can get through, because when we look at the number of fatalities on our roads it is clear that the message is not getting through.

We are seeing burnouts that are done at some of the big intersections, the dangerous intersections in my electorate. We are hearing reports of a time trial club that is going up and down Gorge Road to see how quickly they can get up and down there. We heard Nikolai on ABC radio just the other week talk about the dreadful experience he had taking his family up to the Adelaide Hills to experience what a wonderful region it is when he had a motorcycle right up his clacker looking to overtake in a place where you absolutely cannot overtake.

Everyone has somewhere to be, but part of making sure we can all keep safe is everyone actually taking some responsibility on our roads. I know our shadow minister has reflected on a number of the initiatives that have been implemented over the course of many years, and I think we need to do more.

Some of the other issues raised with me included the condition of the roads, which is something that in regional communities in particular we need to see addressed. There was also a lot of concern about speed in my local area, as I have mentioned, but even basic things like additional signage reminding people how dangerous tailgating is, reminding people to drive to the conditions. There is even what we all would have thought would be basic common courtesy, and in fact it is law on our roads: not crossing a double white line. That is just a cardinal sin that you cannot do. These are indications that have been given by experts, and we just need to follow them.

In reflecting on the member's motion, this is obviously about acknowledging World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims that is coming up on the weekend, and we do express our deepest condolences to the families of victims and to our first responders. We sincerely thank them for all the work they do. It is gut-wrenching stuff, and they do it in a volunteer capacity in many ways.

I think that all South Australians need to reflect on the massive impact that losing a life can have. It is easy to look at it in abstract but, when you actually look back and step away from it, you can consider that this could be you or your loved one. I know that there are many members who would like to make a short contribution to this important motion, so I would like to thank the member for bringing this to the house's attention.

Ms PRATT (Frome) (12:55): I rise to speak to this motion brought to the house by the member for Waite, and I thank her for bringing attention to World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, noting that will fall on 19 November and recognising the number of members who have sought to make a contribution on this sombre topic. I know that we share collectively an agreement that the house would wish to express deep condolences to those family members who are affected by fatalities and injuries as a result of road traffic incidents.

With the time allowed, I pay my own personal respects to a local family in the electorate of Frome. Sadly, a mother, father and daughter were all lost in the same incident. I name John, Cynthia and Jacqueline Clark, who have connections, not just Cynthia Nottle to the family farm that my mum comes from in the Snowtown region but to Snowtown, connecting to the crash site near Lochiel and Templeton, the Blyth communities and the Clare and Jamestown communities. The point that we will be making today in this chamber, I am sure, is the impact and the trauma that is felt when a fatality occurs and those who are left to live on are impacted by not just the tragic loss of life but the trauma that extends to those first responders.

The ambulance officers in the country are volunteers and unpaid. Where MedSTAR medevac retrievals are required, SES and now CFS volunteers all feel the impact, as well as SAPOL when they come on the scene. In the Mid North region, sadly each town has too many reflections on lives lost on our roads. This motion does give us an opportunity to speak to the challenges and the conditions of the roads that can sometimes contribute to those accidents.

The front page of the Plains Producer today is another example of conditions of roads, repairs and maintenance required and the ongoing challenges that we face, particularly as harvest comes upon us. It is an example that I know the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport has in front of him now, because while the department invested in maintenance and ongoing roadworks repairs that were completed in March, we see the deterioration months on. We are not talking about potholes: we are talking about craters.

For those drivers, whether they are driving trucks for harvest or are locals getting to work, visitors to our region or, even worse, night-time travellers, there are hazards left, right and centre. I certainly would call on the government, as it reflects on this motion, to do everything it can to address the backlog of maintenance so that we see our country roads maintained in the same way that city users would expect. I certainly want to thank the member for Waite for bringing this motion. If there is an opportunity for anyone else to speak to it, I will conclude my remarks.

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (12:59): I want to thank all of those who have made a contribution today. It is such an important day to really recognise the impact that just that wrong decision can make not only on the person who either passes away or is severely injured but their family, their friends, the community that wraps around them, those emergency services volunteers, the police and medical professionals. That one decision impacts so many people, not just on that day but every day. I would like to thank everybody for their contribution and commit the motion to the house.

Motion carried.

Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00.

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