A TOP ranking Limestone Coast police officer has urged drivers to avoid complacency on the road in an effort to keep the region fatality-free in 2020.
The Limestone Coast remains the state’s only regional service area without a fatality occurring on its roads so far this year.
It is in stark contrast to the same time in 2019 when 10 lives had already been lost on Limestone Coast roads by the end of July.
Limestone Coast Police acting officer in charge Inspector Campbell Hill said it appeared the community had heeded the ongoing messaging about driver behaviour.
“Our patrols and our people are out and about and they are tasked on a daily basis to identify people doing the wrong thing on the road,” he said.
“I would like to think the efforts we are going to along with people heeding community messages has led us to the current favourable state we are in.”
However, the region has not been absent of poor road behaviour, which was evident on the weekend when a man was caught drink-driving twice in the space of a few hours.
“It is a poor display of decisionmaking in the first instance because drink-driving is a very serious matter that goes before the courts,” he said.
“But to be caught again two hours later and now obviously driving disqualified, this person has made themselves eligible for a jail sentence because of a really stupid decision.”
While admitting most of the community abided by the road rules, Insp Hill said there were still people puting themselves and others at risk.
“There are always going to be people who are either motivated or be silly enough to make really poor choices,” he said.
“We want to know from the community when these risks are present because whether you would label i t as stupidity or ignorance or a bit of both there are elements of human behaviour that cannot be explained.”
Ultimately, he said the overwhelming compliance of motorists was a testament to the community, particularly in light of the number of police resources currently committed to COVID-19.
“The pandemic has seen an added level of dedication required from us organisationally and from a policing point of view our business as usual has changed a lot,” he said.
“We are on the front line at the moment trying to restrict the virus spreading into South Australia, so it is good that people are behaving and doing the right thing to allow us to get on with something that we are trying to do to protect the entire community.”
But he warned people who think they can avoid detection during this period.
“We definitely still have a focus as was witnessed with our detections on the weekend,” he said.
“Thanks to assistance from Adelaide and the Australian Defence Force there are still able to be patrols out there tasked with picking up people doing the wrong thing.”
