Driving Home the Message !

A hot summer Sunday night in Sydney.  Seven children were walking in a group on a footpath, some with pushbikes when a Mitsubishi Triton SUV ran a red light off busy Pennant Hills road and roared into their street, swerving over double lines to overtake a slower car on the wrong side of the road. Somehow the driver lost control and it mounted the kerb - and slammed into that group of children.

Four died on that roadside. Three - from the same family - were killed. Another - a cousin - was critically injured and the others are in  hospital with serious injuries.  The driver was a 29 year old man and a breath test allegedly returned a reading of .150, nearly four times over the legal alcohol limit.  He was arrested and charged with twenty offences which include manslaughter,  dangerous driving causing death and high range drink driving.  It seems inevitable that he will serve a lengthy prison sentence.

This is a tragedy for the family that lost three of their children to an act of stupidity.  Seeing those dreadful pictures on television probably  revived memories for many viewers of times they have driven home drunk - and had the good luck to avoid causing a similar accident.  There are few of us who have not at some time in our lives driven a car when affected with alcohol.

That killer driver is probably a nice young man in most other aspects, but today he is protected from other prisoners because he will be a marked man in the prison system.  Whatever career he was following will be disrupted and his life is changed forever.  The death of those children will forever haunt his imagination.

Once again the authorities juggle the question of how we get drunk or drug affected drivers off the road.  The good news is that this is a declining offence and that can clearly be sheeted home to random breath testing.  We were much more likely to have a few drinks and drive before those booze buses put fear into the equation and the percentage caught drink driving edges slowly lower.  The money it takes to mount a saturation breath test programme is money well spent because that is what gets through to the average driver.   It is the fear factor that a breath test can take place - anywhere and at any time.

Unfortunately, there is an element that does not respond to reason.   They are usually young and out of control and often behind the wheel of a stolen car.  They delight in outrunning police pursuits and when their driving license is suspended they drive regardless.  Usually, they are well known to the police and there is a need for them to be given special attention.  It is time that driving with a cancelled license automatically sees the offender serve a prison sentence.

We will never totally eliminate the drunken driver until self driving cars eliminate humans from behind the wheel.  The biggest problem is the driver who does not set out to exceed the drink limit but gets carried away with the bonhomie - and finds himself or herself on the wrong side of that .05 limit.   That is where the decision to call a cab - or drive home regardless is critical.

Making that right decision will probably hinge on the fear factor from   seeing those flashing blue lights and  breath testing taking place at all times of the day and night.   That is proving the most effective weapon in reducing drink driving !