Basic errors take tragic toll

Editorial: Cassandra Stanghi

Getting in a car, on a bike, or hitting the street on foot to get from A to B is a task many undertake daily without a second thought.

But for the 295 people killed on Victorian roads last year, it was these simple tasks that tragically ended their lives and left family and friends shattered.

In 2023, Victoria recorded a 15-year high for road trauma, in line with the concerning upward trend in lives lost across Australia.

While extreme behaviour such as excessive speeding, unlicensed driving, high-range drink driving and illicit drug driving accounted for a third of Victorian fatal collisions last year, police were alarmed to see the majority of road trauma was caused by basic errors.

These basic errors — including low-range speeding, low-level drink driving, failing to obey road signs, failing to wear a seatbelt and distraction — were factors in more than half of Victoria's fatal collisions in 2023.

Among the deadliest errors was failing to give way, which contributed to roughly one in six fatal collisions, while distraction accounted for about one in eight.

For Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir, who has oversight of all on-road fatal collisions across the state, the level of trauma seen in the past year is unacceptable.

“Any road death is devastating, and most are preventable, but the number of people who have lost their lives because someone chose to take what they thought was a small or acceptable risk beggars belief,” AC Weir said.

“To have police knocking on doors to deliver the news that a loved one has been killed, because somebody was in a rush for an appointment or couldn’t wait to reply to a text, is gut-wrenching.”

Police across the state are banding together to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragedy.

The cornerstone of this work is an 'anytime, anywhere' enforcement approach, prioritising greater visibility of police on the road to act as a deterrent for poor behaviour.

“A lot of the people who are making those basic errors are otherwise reasonable and law-abiding citizens, so we know that seeing a police car on the road or intercepting vehicles is often enough for them to regulate their behaviour,” AC Weir said.

“That’s why we’re making a concerted effort to maintain a highly visible police presence.”

The introduction of electronic penalty notices in the coming months will support this presence, reducing the time police spend writing tickets by hand and giving them more time on the road to detect and prevent poor behaviour.

Changes to optimise the alcohol testing program are also underway, with evidentiary breath testing machines now more available across metropolitan and regional areas. These additional instruments reduce the distance and time police need to transport suspected drink drivers for processing.

While basic errors are a key focus for police, the minority of high-risk road users haven’t been forgotten.

Among a significant body of work to address this issue, police are seeking to expand the use of automatic number plate recognition technology in more police vehicles to detect unauthorised and high-risk drivers more easily before they have a chance to cause harm.

Despite the sizeable police effort to minimise road trauma, AC Weir said officers can’t fix the problem alone.

“We will continue to educate and enforce to the best of our ability, but we need everyone in the community to understand their own responsibilities to keep themselves and others safe on our roads,” AC Weir said.

“To anyone who thinks it’s fine to be a little bit over the speed limit, to rush through a give way sign or to not worry about wearing a seatbelt – I ask you to look at the names of people who have died at the hands of that behaviour here on this page and think about whether it’s really worth it.”