Drivers told be responsible

By Rebecca Fraser
DEATH and serious injury on our roads will continue unabated until members of the community see unlawful behaviour, involving even low levels of speeding, as anti-social and criminal.
That is the view of Region 5 (South East) Traffic Inspector Maurice Lynn who has called on people to stop making ‘fatal errors’ and accepting low level speeding as the norm.
His comments follow last year’s shocking road toll figures where Casey recorded the highest number of fatalities in the state for the second year running with 17 fatalities.
The City of Greater Dandenong recorded 13 road deaths.
Insp Lynn said burglars, drug dealers, arsonists, thugs, fraudsters and thieves made up a small percentage of our population yet as a society people stood together in their resolve to make these people accountable for their actions.
“We want them caught, brought to justice and made to pay the penalty.
“Why then do we allow a far greater threat to society and our loved ones, go on in epidemic numbers?
“Thousands of law breakers every day are putting lives at risk with only a small mistake being the difference between life and death or serious injury,” he said.
Insp Lynn said almost all of the motoring population broke the law at some stage by speeding, drink driving, driving through red lights, or talking on a mobile phone.
“All of these offences are causing death,” he said.
Insp Lynn said he often pondered why it was that people were so distressed by the thought of someone breaking into their house to steal their things that they took preventative measures, yet they were prepared to participate in and accept in others unlawful behaviour that was taking away the lives of children, parents and friends.
“Most motorists think they are above average drivers. This perception is reinforced by taking thousands of trips and not having an accident, despite seeing others have accidents and seeing accidents reported in the media.
“This makes us believe it is the ‘idiot other driver’ who suffers brain injury or dies,” he said.
Insp Lynn believes that people as individual drivers fail to take personal responsibility for their behaviour, always blaming someone or something else for their actions.
“Criticism of low tolerance enforcement as ‘revenue raising’, vividly demonstrates this failure to accept personal responsibility.
“In the road safety war the enemy is not the ‘other driver’ — it is us (people).
“The roads are very unforgiving of human error — one mistake and you don’t get a second chance,” he said.
Insp Lynn said most people considered it legitimate to drive five to 10 kilometres over the speed limit or take other risks on the road despite the fact that in the metropolitan area each five kilometre increase in speed doubles the risk of collision.
“If we suffer or cause brain injury, excuses like ‘I was only a little bit over’ or ‘everybody does it’ are only avoidances to taking personal responsibility.
“We need to take responsibility now,” he said.
“For those who won’t accept their responsibility and refuse or fail to comply with the rules that society has set out, there are consequences — ‘Road trauma or enforcement, or both. Either way it hurts’,” he said.