As the Easter weekend comes to a close, we learn the national road toll is a shocking 19 lives.
Nineteen people.
Nineteen families ruined.
Nineteen Australians who were working, laughing, relaxing with their families this time last week.
Nineteen men and women, mothers and father, aunts, uncles, grandparents and children.
Nineteen lives have been lost this weekend on our roads. Families have been torn apart; parents have been left broken.
As the Easter weekend drew to a close we learnt that the road toll was 19 over the past four days, 13 more than this time last year.
It was a national massacre. How the hell did we lose so many?
In NSW nine-year old William Kulk was travelling home from the Easter show with his 12-year old brother Daniel and his eight-year old sister Piper. The car was driven by their grandmother, and their 31-year old mother was seated in the passenger seat.
The family were returning home to their Central Coast town of Budgewoi – a drive of around an hour-and-a-half – when the car they were in ploughed into a ute which contained a 32-year old woman and her mother.
The driver’s grandmother told News Limited: “They were coming around a left bend when the car was sliding in front and there was nothing she could do but slam on the brakes. She had no time to turn the wheel.”
In South Australia there was one death – a two-year-old girl at Point Turton on Yorke Peninsula. Superintendent Bob Fauser said while it was only one death in the state, it was one death too many.
In Brisbane on Saturday afternoon a four-year old boy riding his scooter was struck by a car. He sustained head and chest injuries, and died at the scene.
Top Comments
Yes there are people who do willfully stupid things, some more who make careless mistakes, even more who have 'lapses' (because that's the way human brains work folks) and even situations like below where $h!t just happens. Reducing the toll is a worthy goal but hyperbolic sentimental claptrap doesn't help. No, I am not responsible for this weekend's toll. Some times NO-ONE is responsible for an accident and witch hunting to make SOMEONE responsible doesnt help any cause.
I was recently haranged by a rural policeman for pulling right off a narrow country road, into a paddock gate entrance, in order to deal with a GPS problem. That is: off the road, out of the traffic, out of anyone's way. It's the nearest I've come to assaulting a copper, who clearly realised I'd done the right thing and had to resort to "Well don't do it again" as he left. Do the right thing and get harrassed by police or haranged by journos. You can't win, can you?
Had I not read this today I might have ridiculed like some other commentators.
Yesterday I was driving to the supermarket in the rain, slowly, with my younger brother in the car. I have driven on this road hundreds possibly thousands of times. I was not distracted, no phone, no radio, gps not even a conversation.
Lost control of the car almost hit an oncoming truck and cars behind it. Slid off into an embankment and luckily car didn't roll!
I was driving responsibly and slowly to the conditions in an area I know well. Accidents happen so fast and we often forget to be vigilant
Stay safe xx