Rural Road Safety Month kicks off in Townsville
Two out of three people killed in a crash in the last year, died on a rural stretch of road. The sobering statistic is expected to become worse, but Australian Road Safety Foundation wants to change the narrative.
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TWO out of three people killed in a crash in the last year, died on a rural stretch of road.
The sobering statistic is expected to become worse, but Australian Road Safety Foundation wants to change the narrative.
CEO Russell White shined a light on the “over representation” of rural road deaths at the launch of Rural Road Safety Month on Wednesday in Townsville.
Flanked by Senator Susan McDonald, Road Safety Assistant Minister Scott Buchholz and members from Townsville Police, Mr White called on regional drivers to be the change the community needed to see.
“Road safety is an issue that never goes away,” Mr White said.
“There’s limits as to what can be done from a law enforcement and government aspect, ultimately it comes back to an individual person.”
Mr White said rural drivers can sometimes become complacent on the roads and drop their guard, which can have potentially fatal impacts.
He spoke passionately about the number of rural road fatalities while standing in front of a flower installation with 1096 blooms, to represent each life lost on Australian roads this year.
Townsville Road Policing Unit officer-in-charge Robbie Nalder said his officers see the carnage first-hand.
This year, 19 people have been killed on Townsville roads, which is 10 more than the same time two years ago.
“It’s something we take very personally, in the last couple of years our fatalities have increased dramatically,” Sergeant Nalder said.
“We are probably looking at a very, very poor year in fatalities.
Sergeant Nalder said there was no such thing as an “accident”.
“An accident is something that just happens, unfortunately these types of crashes occur because someone has done something wrong.”
He said some of the biggest crash factors were fatigue and distraction.
“It’s something we all need to work on as it’s very hard for us to police.”
Sergeant Nalder said the numbers represented more than just statistics.
“They are friends, family members, some people don’t even know that person that’s died but they feel some type of tragic death of that person.
“As a community, it affects us all.”
Mr White encouraged drivers to take their time on rural roads and drive to the conditions to keep themselves, and others safe.
‘I’m a different person’: Cyclists relive horror crash
A ROAR of an engine, bikes crunching under the weight of a bumper, and the screams of injured friends cutting through the morning air.
The day life changed for five cyclists is burnt into their memory and they can relive it like it happened yesterday, instead of 17 months ago.
Brad Wilton was among five friends out for a morning bike ride on February 19 last year when they were hit by a car.
The driver, Douglass Laurence Foley, 29, was on meth, asleep at the wheel, and didn’t stop to help.
He was sentenced last week to seven years’ jail over the crash, but will most likely get out on parole next year.
Mr Wilton, who lives with PTSD and immense trauma caused by the crash, said the sentence wasn’t harsh enough, and would never take away the pain caused in his life.
It was about 5.30am, the sun was beginning to rise over the Townsville City as a group of five friends rode along Dalrymple Rd in Mount Louisa.
The friends included Mr Wilton, lawyer Jade Connor, pharmacist Dianne Graham, and Dr John Masson and Kirsten Masson.
They were seasoned riders cycling in single-file in the green bike lane, just like any other morning.
But without warning, they were hit.
Bikes and bodies were crumpled, leaving every rider injured and helpless on the bitumen.
Foley took off, dumped the car at a nearby wreckers, walked home, took an antidepressant and went to sleep.
During his court sentence, it was revealed he was on meth and had fallen asleep when the crash happened.
Foley was on bail at the time of the crash for being caught with meth.
His addiction to meth started in 2019, and at his worst was taking one to two points every day.
More than 18 months on from the horrific crash, Foley’s court matter is over, but Mr Wilton’s life has not got back to normal.
“I walk much slower, I fatigue a lot quicker, I get frustrated, I have been diagnosed with PTSD, I cry once a week,” Mr Wilton said.
“I’m not the person I used to be.”
Mr Wilton suffered some of the worst injuries out of the group, including nine broken ribs, five spinal fractures and a collapsed lung.
He spent five months off work which crippled his newly opened business, and things haven’t returned to normal.
He is still in rehabilitation, sees a psychologist every three weeks and a physiotherapist every fortnight.
He used to be adventurous, and now he struggles to get through a day of work.
“I’ve got to live with this for the rest of my life.”
Mr Masson and his wife Kirsten considered themselves as the luckier ones, but still spent months in recovery.
Their injuries consisted of a broken shoulder, broken ribs and a fractured pelvis.
“I remember it all, it was a very surreal event, but over the course of time we’ve recovered,” Mr Masson said.
Unlike Mr Wilton, the husband and wife duo have hopped back on the bike.
“The first ride back was a bit nerve-racking, we bought a little radar device that tells you when a car is coming.
“It took a few rides to get back into the swing of things.
“But I was a bit tentative, a bit jumpy.”
Mr Wilton said his five-year-old son was calling the shots about whether he rode again.
“My wife mentioned the incident to the kids and I can’t seem to get them over the line,” Mr Wilton said.
He didn’t think Foley’s sentence was harsh enough.
“He will walk out of jail next year without anything.
“He’s had nothing taken away from him.
“It just shows one person’s moment of madness could change a person’s life.”
Mr Masson has put the whole ordeal behind him, but says there is a serious issue that needs addressing.
“It’s clear that as a society we have a problem with drug taking,” Mr Masson said.
“I don’t know how we solve that, but we have a problem with people driving under meth and other drugs.”
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