South Australia Police have today launched a new road safety initiative after a road fatality and two separate traffic operations.
Operation High Impact F5 Regional was the first of the two enforcement activities, running from Thursday 6 February until Saturday 7 March. High Impact F5 resulted in 2,499 drivers detected for exceeding the speed limit.
Additionally, 16,982 drivers were screened for alcohol with 108 of those drivers returning a positive result, and 1,541 drivers were screened for a prescribed drug (methylamphetamine, THC and Ecstasy) with 232 of those motorists returning a positive result.
A total of 177 drivers were detected committing a seatbelt offence and 72 drivers were detected committing a distraction based offence, including mobile phone use.
As High Impact F5 started to wind-up, Operation Safe Long Weekend Adelaide Cup began at 12.01am on Friday 6 March and ended at 11.59pm on Monday 9 March.
With a focus on reducing death and serious injuries on our roads, police officers detected 805 drivers for speeding offences during the state-wide operation.
Safe Long Weekend ended with 4,976 alcotests and 111 detections, 635 drug tests and 63 detections, along with traffic infringement notices issued for 36 mobile phone offences and 44 seatbelt offences.
After the conclusion of these traffic operations, a 47-year-old woman died following a head-on crash with a car driven by a 44-year-old man at Kersbrook last night.
Just after 7.15pm Tuesday 10 March, police and emergency services were called to South Para Road after a Ford utility and a Peugeot station wagon collided head on.
On the back of these traffic operation results and another life lost on our roads , South Australia Police (SAPOL) have today published a new digital media road safety message known as "One Tonne Bullet."
The message highlights that all motor vehicles – but cars in particular - driven at speed is like firing a bullet indiscriminately down a street.
Cars are not intended to be weapons but some people drive them like they are.
The key focus of the SAPOL message is that when a person gets in to drive a car, or to operate any other vehicle, they need to understand and appreciate that driving on our roads is a privilege – it is not a right.
With that privilege comes unequivocal responsibility and accountability to ensure that all road users, including pedestrians, are treated with respect.
SAPOL have heard public comments that vehicles are at times driven by some people as if they are a weapon.
This is symbolized in the digital vision where a speeding car is depicted as a one tonne bullet speeding indiscriminately down a road. Bullets kill and so do cars driven irresponsibly at speed.
Last year, 114 people lost their lives on South Australian roads.
If 114 people were to be randomly shot and killed on our streets in South Australia it would likely be ongoing front page news for many days, and yet there seems to be a lack of community concern for the amount of people dying on our roads.
"In current times, it appears that there is a degree of complacency by some in our community, particularly when it comes to speeding in motor vehicles," said Superintendent Bob Gray, Officer in Charge of the Traffic Services Branch.
"Those people have become somewhat immune to hearing the road safety message or hearing about the lives lost on our roads, unless it directly impacts upon them personally.
"SAPOL make no apology for the confrontational nature of this very strong message. If this can create robust conversation and reinforce the road safety message in our community, then it has achieved the desired result."
Minister for Police Corey Wingard reiterated the importance of road safety.
"We live in such an incredible state, and we should all be working together as South Australians to make our roads as safe as possible," he said.
"Although confrontational, this new initiative from SAPOL will hopefully contribute to safer drivers, safer pedestrians and safer roads."
To view the one tonne bullet message, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6pbgpJ3XL4&feature=youtu.be
