DURING this year’s National Road Safety Week, we are all being asked to drive as if our loved ones are travelling on the road ahead, and in our Shire when you think about it, that is quite often the case.

Because every time you hop in your car and head to the shops or drive the family to the beach at Mylestom and go to Dorrigo on the weekend, you always end up seeing someone you know on the road heading the other way.

And that’s why I encourage you to make the pledge to ‘Drive So Others Survive’ during National Road Safety Week, which is being held this year between the 16 – 23 May, by logging onto the National Road Safety Week website at https://roadsafetyweek.com.au/.

So far more than 35,000 people have made the pledge to ‘Drive So Others Survive’ and given that more than 70% of fatal crashes on country roads involve country residents, we all need to remain aware of the risks on the road, even those roads that we drive every day.

That also means we need to help those who protect and help us, by slowing down and giving our emergency services and roadside workers the space they need to stay safe as they go about helping us and repairing and maintaining our Shire’s road network.

Ultimately, one life lost is one too many, so please take the time to consider the impacts fatal road accidents can have on you and our community and take advantage of the opportunity to talk with your family and friends about the importance of driving safely on our roads so others can survive.

 

By Liz JEREMY, Bellingen Shire Council General Manager