A powerful new Motor Accident Commission road safety campaign has been launched on TV imploring all South Australians to think about their behaviour on the road.
Road Safety Minister, Michael O’Brien urged all drivers to make road safety a personal priority following the shocking start to the year.
“So many deaths in such a short time in extremely disappointing and a serious wake up call for all road users,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We’re devastated by the tragic start to 2010 and feel compelled to remind all South Australians of the emotional and physical impact of road crashes,” MAC Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Daniels said.
“We all need to take responsibility for our actions on the road. We hope this campaign will jolt people into reality.
“The campaign uses local news footage, and we’re extremely grateful to Adelaide’s television news stations for making this footage available to MAC and coming on board for this most important cause.
“Many South Australians hold the view it will never happen to me when it comes to road crashes. While tragically, there have been 20 deaths in January alone, we also want everyone to be aware that another 464 people have also been injured.
“The risk of being involved in a serious crash is much greater than people realize.
“Each year approximately 8,000 South Australians suffer injuries such as whiplash, broken bones and more severe injuries, such as loss of limbs, paraplegia and brain damage, just to name a few,” Mr Daniels said.
Minister O’Brien said the average South Australian had a one in two chance of being injured in a road crash during the course of their lives.
“That’s a quite frightening statistic, one for everybody to be aware of when driving or riding on our roads..
“At the end of the day it’s easy to be a safe driver by simply adhering to the road rules and making sensible decisions when getting behind the wheel,” Mr O’Brien said.
The new TV commercial will screen across the state from tomorrow night (Sunday) and is being supported by press and radio advertisements.
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