How Tasmania can reduce its road tragedies: Senior Australian of the Year
A new requirement for learner drivers should be introduced before they can obtain their licence, 2022 Senior Australian of the Year Val Dempsey says.
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The Tasmanian government is being urged to make first aid training mandatory for new drivers, with Senior Australian of the Year Val Dempsey visiting the state to advocate for the change.
Ms Dempsey, of Canberra, is a long-time St John Ambulance volunteer who logged more than 600 hours of service in 2021 alone, including leading first-aid training sessions.
The 71-year-old wants Australia’s next generation of learner drivers to become “mobile first aiders”, suggesting that the nation follow the lead of many European countries where the training is compulsory in order to obtain a licence.
Ms Dempsey believes such a requirement could help Tasmania bring down its terrible road toll, which is currently sitting at 31 – more than double what it was at the same time last year.
“If we start with our kids in school and have them already road safety-aware, then it will give them a chance to be able to put their hand up, stand up and step forward to apply the principles of basic, lifesaving first aid,” she said.
“These kids need to be prepared for their life driving on the road. And I really think it’s scandalous if we let them out there on the roads anymore in the years to come without some of that basic life saving skill.”
Ms Dempsey said being able to stop any bleeding, protect airways, and perform CPR were highly valuable skills for bystanders to possess in the event of a road crash.
She will today discuss St John Ambulance’s proposal with senior members of Ambulance Tasmania and Tasmania Police, as well as State Growth Department general manager road user services Martin Crane, who will be representing Transport Minister Michael Ferguson.
She hopes they will be receptive to her calls for compulsory driver first aid training, saying the matter held a deep personal significance for her.
“I nearly lost my daughter (in a traffic crash) and she held her friend while he died,” she said.
“People who came to that accident, when my daughter was 17, peered through the smashed car as she was holding him and he was dying in her arms.
“She remembers very clearly a voice saying, ‘I want to help but I don’t know what to do’.
“I tell you what, if we can’t change that, something’s wrong with the Aussie code. And I really think we can (change it).”
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Originally published as How Tasmania can reduce its road tragedies: Senior Australian of the Year
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