The official Easter road toll has climbed to 21, leaving police and politicians shaking their heads and wondering what to do next.
A heavy police presence on our roads, and crackdowns on speeding and drink driving have not been enough to stop the carnage.
One of the first fatalities in the Easter period was a 66-year-old man who was killed when his car – and the caravan it was towing – flipped on the South Coast Highway in Western Australia.
While grey nomads are not the most prominent demographic in the road toll, there is an increasing awareness that they do face particular driving challenges.
Police in western Queensland have just started a campaign to alert Australia’s grey nomads to the dangers of outback driving. They say there has been an increase in the number of travellers over recent weeks, and kangaroos and dead animals on the road may cause problems.
“Our caravan crashes have increased over the last three years and we have identified that a lot of those crashes have occurred because of dead animals on the highway – people swerving,” Sergeant Wayne Lynn from Longreach police told the ABC, “Also the windy conditions when they overtake road trains, so we are just trying to educate people with the road conditions out here.”
This Easter, four people died on Queensland roads, five were killed in both Victoria and South Australia, three in NSW, two in Tasmania and two in WA. There have been no road deaths in the ACT or the Northern Territory.
Last Easter, a total of 10 people died on Australia’s roads.
What can be done to lower the road toll? Have dead animals on the road caused you to crash or nearly crash? Comment below.
This is bought about by people having to keep looking at the speedo every second to check….Then Whamo off the road…This is not as silly as it sounds…It happens on Country roads often….So I blame,as well the so called speed kills Message
A competent driver is the driver that is able to Practice good driving each and every time they are on the road.
Being a competent or good driver is not about going slow or being some kind of goody two shoes.
Being able to drive safely is about thinking, being observant and a mature responsible adult. It’s about courtesy and consideration to others. It’s about obeying the road rules, it really is very simple.
LOT MORE off road rest places, it would help
lot more rest places well off the road
Most of the dead animals are on outback roads that are long and straight. Most people don’t look far enough ahead when they are driving. If you see something on the road and there is nothing coming move out gradually and back in gradually. If there is something coming slow down so that you don’t meet the other vehicle where the animal is. Swerving is a big no no when towing. If you’ve never towed before go for a trip with a good truckie and learn how to drive an articulated vehicle.
The problem is that most people only travel a short distance to and from work and the occasional short trips of a weekend, then expect to be able to jump in their car and caravan, still drive at the speed limit and travel a thousand km in a day.
What is needed is education and IMHO special licences for a vehicle combination that can weigh far in excess of what the legal limit for a standard licence yet be legal because the weight of the combination is not a consideration, a standard Larger 4wd towing a larger van can exceed 12m in length and weigh over 8t yet can be legally driven on a car licence.
what’s the rush if on holidays? keep the speed down, so what if you arrive 10 minutes later, that’s better than not at all. GPS units are that cheap now set your speed and you get notified “you are over the limit”
no excuse for speeding, it works for us on travel and in the city. also good tow vehicle to match the size of your van. Take care, be safe.