THE region’s police chief has issued a fresh warning driving under the influence drugs or alcohol and becoming distracted with mobile phones is a “dangerous” cocktail that costs lives.
Limestone Coast officer-in-charge superintendent Grant Moyle yesterday spoke out ahead of today’s Fatality Free Friday national campaign.
Sadly, the Limestone Coast has reported four road fatalities this year.
His warning comes as police continue to detect a high number of regional drivers getting behind the wheel under the influence of illicit drugs.
Police reveal methamphetamine and cannabis are at the top of the list of detected illegal substances.
South Australian drivers are also being urged to put their phones away as new research shows they are the most distracted – and dangerous – in the country.
Research also shows half of Australian drivers narrowly avoid a car crash at least once a month, while 18pc of drivers say they experience close calls on a weekly basis.
A damaged car – involved in an accident – will be on display in Mount Gambier today for people to sign pledging their support to drive safely.
This car will also be positioned at the Icehouse tonight for the much-anticipated Mount Gambier Pioneers home game.
The city’s only national sporting team is partnering with the road safety group.
“Fatality Free Friday is a great initiative, anything we can do to reduce the road toll and promote safety is a good idea,” Supt Moyle told The Border Watch yesterday.
He called for drivers to remain vigilant on the road, be aware of their environment, monitor their speed and not to become distracted with mobile phones.
“In our local service area we have had four fatalities this year, which is four too many. We have very concentrated road safety campaigns across the region all the time,” the police superintendent said.
“We will continue with those, which includes deploying highway patrols and other patrols where we see fit based on a lot of road safety data.”
Supt Moyle said drug driving was a major issue for the region.
“We are getting quite a number of readings in regards to drug use and driving, which creates a suite of risks for road safety,” he said.
“Our detection rate for drug driving is too high. This creates a lot of danger for everyone on the road.”
He also revealed people driving under the influence of alcohol remained an issue with a driver involved in a recent crash in the Millicent district crash blowing over the limit.
“Road fatalities and injuries impact on so many people. If you have had anything to do with the aftermath of road crashes, you really appreciate the consequences and how terrible those incidents are.”
Pioneers player Lewis Thomas yesterday threw his support behind today’s road safety campaign.
“Our players have to travel a lot and we understand the importance of road safety and getting the message out there to limit fatalities,” Lewis said.
“It is great for the Pioneers to be linked with this campaign and support community road safety initiatives. We will do what we can to get the message out there.”
Mount Gambier and District Road Safety Group chair David Burt said today’s campaign was part of a number of initiatives that would be rolled out this year.
“We are keen to promote as many road safety events as we can,” Mr Burt said.
Limestone Coast Local Government Association road safety officer Rob Forgan said he was pleased the region had “jumped on board” with today’s campaign.
“We hope the display of the car will encourage people to take the pledge to drive safely,” Mr Forgan said.
Mr Forgan said the Pioneers were role models for the community given the club promoted ride sharing and designated drivers.
