By Callan Date
CONTINUING carnage on Casey’s roads has claimed more than one life a month in 2008.
This brings to 34 the number of people who have been killed on our roads since 2006.
The alarming figures obtained by the News also revealed a horror stretch of fatal collisions in Cranbourne, Lynbrook, Lyndhurst and Clyde.
Casey’s top traffic cop Sergeant Pat McGavigan said driver error had caused the majority of deaths on local roads.
Even more frustrating for police was the blatant disrespect for the law many local motorists show.
“Police are daily detecting people who choose not to wear seat belts or use mobile telephones or exceed the speed limit, yet people keep doing it knowing the consequences,” he said.
“Unfortunately these choices can lead to an error in driving and ultimately a collision.”
He said the city’s mixture of a regional and metropolitan road network, along with its high population, contributed towards the high number of serious crashes.
“Include this with the higher speed zones and the greater the impact when vehicles collide, then the greater the potential for serious injury or death,” Sgt McGavigan said.
The News will continue its focus on the road toll in coming weeks with a campaign aimed at highlighting the true impact of the road toll on the City of Casey and its residents.
How it has unfolded in 2008…
After 11 deaths on our roads in 2006 and 14 last year, 2008 appears to be set to be another horror year.
Already nine people have died including:
February: A 61-year-old woman was killed after a two car collision in Narre Warren.
March: A 30-year-old man died after he lost control of his motorbike in Cranbourne.
March: Two children, aged six and nine, killed after a collision in Lynbrook.
April: A 48-year-old man dies after a crash in Narre Warren North.
May: A 63-year-old woman is killed instantly after her car smashes into a power pole in Clyde.
June: A pedestrian died after being hit by a motorbike in Narre Warren.
July: A 26-year-old man died after his car ploughed into a fence in Endeavour Hills.
July: A 24-year-old man died in an incident in Hampton Park.
