Easter death toll no reason to celebrate

Easter Monday I dragged myself out of bed at 6:15am and went in search of coffee. I was scheduled to give a radio interview on ABC about road safety over the Easter break.

After three days with a house full of friends, complete with children and dogs, I had not been anywhere near a news report or paper (there was 17 of us all up for the long weekend, 21 if you count the dogs).

Thus I had abandoned my regional Road Safety Officer post, switched off completely, on the most notorious of long weekends – Easter. I needed to do some research and quickly.

Thank goodness for the internet and its immediacy. I first read words like “So far, the Easter road toll is on track to be the lowest in years”.

My initial reaction is excitement. Only four fatalities…great.

I turn on the TV – no Easter road toll story featuring there either. Fantastic still only four? That made me happy.

And there it is, four ‘deaths’ made me ‘happy’.

I was celebrating four deaths on the road. Yes, this is a far cry from the 14 killed the year before (by Easter Sunday). But I had caught myself out.

My natural reaction to the fatality figure upset me. It was just plain inappropriate. Was I celebrating four deaths?

Don’t get me wrong – improvement is important and everyone who contributed to this particularly low Easter road toll should be wholeheartedly congratulated – police, volunteers at Driver Reviver stops, the motorists themselves – just to name a few. Let’s definitely feel pleased, this is positive.

Road Safety Officer Melissa Weller shared Easter with extended friends and family, happy that none of them became a statistic on the roads. PHOTO: Supplied.

But the bottom line was that while I was ‘celebrating’ the low toll, four families are no longer laughing together, four families have one less person to eat with, to buy an Easter egg for.

For my Easter celebrations I had four families, four car loads travelled well over 300km to visit us. Our bubble of fun would have dramatically burst if one of those carloads had not arrived.

Five minutes till my radio interview, a day on which four more people will die (bringing the 2016 Easter road toll to eight).

I pour my cold coffee down the sink. This year to date 93 people have died on NSW roads, 17 more than this time last year.

“Fix the roads” I hear people say.

The simple fact is that you can drive the safest of cars on the safest of roads and harm may be minimised but not entirely prevented.

Road safety engineering is an important element in lowering road tolls, but takes time and money.

The extended Weller families enjoying Easter treats. PHOTO: Supplied

We have direct control over our behaviour and can change this immediately. It is human behaviour, our choices, our judgements and our decisions that really put us at risk.

You can choose to slow down, you can judge how tired you are and you can decide to stop for a break.

As we approach ANZAC Day and the April School Holidays please plan your trip, drive to conditions, slow down and take personal responsibility for the way you drive.

Your behaviour might save someone’s life, maybe even your own.

– Melissa Weller, Road Safety Officer, Yass Valley Council.

Even with the Easter road toll down from 14 to four this year, regional road safety officer Melissa Weller found herself baulking at the idea anyone’s family should have to experience road trauma, and has called on those travelling for ANZAC Day and school holidays to help improve the statistics even further. PHOTO: Supplied.