A MOUNT Gambier woman was left with broken bones and bruises after being struck by a car on Commercial Street East yesterday morning.
The crash is believed to have occurred shortly before 10.30am when the driver of a car turned right onto Commercial Street East from Ferrers Street.
the Limestone Coast was not spared from the trauma, with six deaths on the region’s roads.
While there was a statewide reduction in serious injuries recorded in 2017 with 573 serious injuries compared to 713 in 2016, the Limestone Coast went against that trend with an increase that saw 33 people seriously injured in South East crashes.
Joining a recent plea made by South Australian Road Safety Minister Chris Picton for safer driving in 2018, Limestone Coast regional community road safety officer Rob Forgan said every driver on the road needs to start taking responsibility for their own actions.
“There is a misconception held by many that road safety is a problem for younger drivers, but when you look at the data for last year, clearly this is not so,” Mr Forgan said.
“It indicates that we have more mature drivers making some sort of mistake, leading to a needless fatality or life changing crash injury.”
Limestone Coast Police officer in charge Superintendent Grant Moyle said disturbing data from crashes in 2017 revealed people are making foolish decisions that make their chances of survival worse at the time of a crash.
“Last year close to 40pc of drivers and passengers killed were not wearing seat belts,” Supt Moyle said.
“Despite our best efforts in enforcement and education and those of the Motor Accident Commission we do not seem to be getting through.”
Supt Moyle said the amount of people choosing to travel over the speed limit was also disappointing and unacceptable.
“Speed is another issue, everyone knows that speed at the point of impact is critical to survival, it often determines life or death, fatalities or the seriousness of injury,” Supt Moyle said.
“If you are going to get behind the wheel of a vehicle or ride a motorbike and drive in a reckless manner that is inexcusable.”
Supt Moyle said people need to make good decisions on the road this year to keep themselves and everyone else safe.
“Making sensible decisions every day we travel on the road is everyone’s responsibility, not just some of the time, but all of the time,” he said.
“This year, we want everyone to get to their homes and their families safe every day they travel and we are determined in our efforts to keep people safe on our roads.”
