Opinion: Road toll is more than numbers – it’s the tragic tale of lives lost

Understandably, much media attention is focused when the loss of a life or lives occurs in our community.

UNDERSTANDABLY, much media attention is focused when the loss of a life or lives occurs in our community.

Recently, tragic incidents have befallen people in terrible circumstances via shark attacks, domestic violence and the lone-wolf terrorist attack in the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne, followed with calls for action, a natural response to such terrible events.

WHY MEN ARE DYING IN DROVES ON QUEENSLAND ROADS

Yet at the same time, our road toll continues to climb, with 219 people killed on Queensland roads this year, as of last Friday.

This different frame of reference to the tragic loss of life shows that our society still accepts death will occur on our roads. That way of thinking has to change. Those numbers are not numbers, but in fact people – the stories of thousands of people whose lives have been irrevocably changed by tragedy, most of which are preventable.

Our Government’s vision to achieve a zero road toll might sound ambitious, or even impossible, but how can we aim for anything less?

We have committed $674 million over the next four years on road safety upgrades, but even the highest-quality roads need good drivers. Young drivers aged between 16-24 continue to be involved in more than double the number of crashes than older drivers.

If every driver wore a seat belt, stuck to the speed limit, didn’t drive drunk, under the influence of drugs, tired or distracted then our road toll would plunge to double digits.

As we approach the busy Christmas and New Year holiday period, it up to all of us to look and feel beyond the numbers and remember we share the roads with people just like us with stories to tell, lives to live and families to return to.

Let’s remember that every time we start the engine.