Qld’s top cop warns of ‘carnage on our streets’ unless drivers stop speeding in school holidays

Queensland school holidays start on Friday and Queensland’s top cop fears there could be carnage on the roads if motorists don't slow down.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll has expressed concern about ‘carnage’ on Queensland’s roads during the upcoming school holidays following an alarming spike in this year’s road toll.

Even though there have been significantly fewer vehicles on the state’s roads in 2020 because of coronavirus lockdown, up until midnight on Wednesday, there had been 183 fatalities – 30 more than for the same period last year.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll says speeding, failure to wear seatbelts and inattention are among the causes of fatal car crashes. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Ms Carroll said speeding had been prevalent during the past six months and she implored drivers to slow down and be patient when the schools break this Friday for two weeks.

“What we have found since the COVID-period is that more people are speeding on our roads at an exponentially higher rate and what's happened also is that there have been more fatalities,” she told reporters.

She said the cause of road fatalities was usually the result of either, or a combination of, speed, a failure to buckle-up, driver inattention and drink-driving.

“It’s always the usual things that we constantly talk about speed, seatbelts, inattention, drink-driving … so I ask young people to slow down … because there can be carnage on our streets,” she said.

“Sadly, we’ve had a few fatalities where there have been multiple deaths. it’s unacceptable.

“I ask particularly as we go into school holidays, when there will be a lot of more cars on the roads in Queensland, for drivers to be extra careful.”

Originally published as Qld’s top cop warns of ‘carnage on our streets’ unless drivers stop speeding in school holidays