Road Safety Week ran from Sunday, May 5 to Sunday, May 12, with a range of initiatives in the Kingborough region highlighting the importance of promoting safe driving.
Kingston Inspector Colin Riley and Kingborough Mayor Paula Wriedt visited a road safety blitz site in Kingston on May 6.
The road safety team were set up on Redwood Road checking vehicles were registered, ensuring drivers were licensed, their vehicles were roadworthy and that they were being driven appropriately.
Council also lit up the Civic Centre in yellow, in honour of Road Safety Week’s nationally recognised yellow ribbon symbol.
Kingston Inspector Colin Riley said Road Safety Week provides a timely reminder for all road users, including Bruny Island visitors, to be especially aware of their driving choices.
Inspector Riley highlighted Bruny Island as an example as recent patrols on the island have detected both drug and drink drivers in the area, including a reading of 0.187 and another of 0.12, noting the legal limit for these drivers is 0.05.
Another detection was a driver who was found speeding in the middle of the day and subsequently returned a high range breath alcohol reading.
Both speed and alcohol are identified as factors contributing to fatalities on our roads.
“Disappointingly some people continue to make poor driving choices,” Inspector Riley said.
Tasmania Police are active on Bruny Island, conducting high visibility patrols with a particular focus on the high-risk areas of:
* Speeding
* Use of seatbelts
* Alcohol and drug driving
* Mobile phone use and inattention
“National Road Safety Week is about further promoting road safety awareness in the community and encouraging discussion about how we can make our roads safer and reduce road trauma,” said the Chair of the Road Safety Advisory Council Scott Tilyard.
“”This week and every week, we are asking all Tasmanians to drive so others survive.
“We continue to work towards our vision of zero deaths and serious injuries, but we are not on track to get there.”
There have been eight fatalities and 114 serious injuries on Tasmanian roads so far this year.
“Drivers are reminded to make the right choices every single time they drive, no matter the time of day or distance being travelled,” Inspector Riley said.
