Once again, police are calling for motorists to slow down and stop speeding.
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That the Capalaba Road Policing Unit caught almost 500 people speeding on local and nearby roads over the two week period from December 21 to January 4 is shameful.
One motorist was even caught driving at 98km/h on Thorneside’s Railway Parade – almost 50km/h above the speed limit.
Among the statistics given by local police this week, there were 20 traffic crashes in the Redlands alone over the same period.
In six of those crashes, people were injured.
The holidays are supposed to bring joy and happiness, yet the festive season in any given year is always filled with media reports of casualties and fatalities – many of them on the roads.
For families that have loved ones taken, that joy turns to grief and devastation, and they will forever have an empty seat at their Christmas table.
Whether a driver errs on the wrong side of a speed limit deliberately or unconsciously, it is unacceptable.
Motorists share the roads with pedestrians and cyclists of all ages, as well as an abundance of wildlife, and the potential to cause an innocent person an untimely death or life-changing injuries is too great.
When these possibilities are real, and local police report almost 500 speeding offences over 14 days, something is clearly amiss.
There are many campaigns and advertisements about driving safely; and we all know the fatal five as espoused by Queensland Police – distraction and inattention, speeding, drink and drug-driving, failure to wear a seatbelt and driving while fatigued.
Quite rightly, police take a zero tolerance approach to these and other traffic offences.
They are among the people who are required to attend the scenes of horrendous crashes and give families the worst news imaginable.
While the police do a great job in helping to keep our roads safe, we as motorists must take the lead.
Drivers must slow down, wear seatbelts, stop texting while driving, rest when necessary, never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and give their full attention to the vehicle and the road.
Is that text message or extra two minutes of time saved so important that it is worth possibly killing someone?
