Toowoomba teenagers witnessing traffic offences, drink driving, drug driving
They are offences that happen every day in our community, but they’re the ones putting our loved ones most at risk in Toowoomba, and throughout Queensland.
Toowoomba
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It’s been a tragic year on the roads so far in 2022.
In just four months of this year, 78 people have been killed on our roads and 17 of those have been in the Southern district, encompassing the Darling Downs.
But it’s our children and teenagers who say they feel the most fear when it comes to get into the passenger seat of a car with their family or friends.
Leading motoring body RACQ revealed that, during a survey of grade 11 and 12 students across Queensland, 74 per cent of students had been put in “terrifying” situations as the passenger in a vehicle.
RACQ Education Officer Dave Terry said the reasons for this were broad – from witnessing specific behaviours like speeding and drink-driving, to a general lack of road safety skills on the driver’s behalf.
“This was more common in regional Queensland, where 52 per cent of students admitted to putting themselves in that terrifying situation, compared to 38 per cent for year 12 students at metro schools,” he said.
“We know alcohol affects judgment, vision, co-ordination and reflexes and significantly increases the risk of crashing.
“It’s dangerous behaviour and it’s disappointing that so many drivers are putting themselves and others at risk.”
The number of traffic offences in Toowoomba alone span into the thousands.
According to the Queensland Police, traffic offences can include driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding, driving without due care, and driving dangerously – the exact offences that teenagers have confessed to witnessing.
In the last six months alone, 5683 traffic offences were picked up by police in the Toowoomba Queensland Police Service district.
More than 11, 000 of those offences were recorded in the last 12 months.
In light of the school holidays, drivers are urged to be smart on the roads, and think about the lives they are putting at risk with dangerous driving.
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