A New " Road Safety " Regimen !

 Driving a car in New South Wales is about to become more legally challenging. A number of law changes will come into force in the new year aimed at reducing the deaths and serious injuries that occur on our roads.

The road death statistics illustrate the problem,.  All too often the car at fault was travelling well in excess of the legal speed limit. We have  speed zones with limited speeds outside schools to offer protection to children but they are often ignored, and sometimes the very culprits are the parents of the children being put at risk.

Pleas to drive safely and within the speed limits have been ineffective.  The only answer seems to be the " fear factor ".   The sight of a marked police car brings other drivers back to the limit because of the threat of a heavy fine and the loss of demerit points.

The government plans to remove the warning signs that have alerted drivers to the presence of mobile speed cameras and vastly increase their presence on both highways and suburban streets.   We have forty-five of these mobile speed cameras in New South Wales and in the new year their hours of operation will be increased from the present seven thousand hours each month - to twenty-one thousand hours.

Be warned.  You are likely to encounter a speed camera in the most unexpected places and if you are over the speed limit, retribution by way of a fine and points loss is inevitable.  Many will grizzle that this is simply " revenue raising " but it is a serious attempt to lower the deaths and misery road accidents inflict on families because someone else was ignoring sensible speed laws.

Another law change relates to drivers caught behind the wheel affected by alcohol or drugs.  The fine regimen presently in place treats these separately, with a maximum fine of $3,300 for driving with an excess of alcohol, and a $2,200 fine for a drug driving offence.

Statistics reveal that many convictions show that the offender was guilty of driving with both drugs and alcohol impairing their judgement and this will now be regarded as a combined offence.  This combined impairment is much more likely to result in a crash and the penalty has been upgraded accordingly

A person convicted of driving with both a drug and alcohol impairment. will face the prospect of an $11,000 fine and two years imprisonment.   This draconian penalty will be known as the " Four Angels Law" in recognition  of the death of three sisters and their cousin, from the same family struck down by a twenty-nine year old driver who was three times over the alcohol limit and affected by drugs.

Very clearly, the onus is on the individual getting behind the wheel to make sure they are legally fit to drive and prepared to drive the car within the legal speed limit.   Failure to meet that challenge will now feel the full effect of the law enforcement people.