Ahead of this year’s Labour Day, Road Safety commissioner Kim Papalia urged drivers to take care on the roads, and reminded them double demerit points will be in effect throughout the long weekend.
He said 2016 was a tragic year for road safety, and asked drivers to take responsibility for themselves, their passengers and other road users before getting behind the wheel.
“We cannot have a recurrence of the appalling loss of life suffered on WA roads in 2016,” Mr Papalia said.
“We know there is an increase in the number vehicles on WA roads on long weekends, so drivers need to exercise caution and patience, and ensure everyone makes it to their destination safely.”
Double demerit points begin at midnight on Thursday and remain in force until midnight Monday March 6.
During those dates, drivers caught drink or drug driving, using their mobiles phones in their vehicles, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt or running a red light will receive double the point penalty.
“These behaviours can lead to fatal outcomes on our roads,” Mr Papalia said.
“Don’t drive if you’ve been drinking, turn off your mobile phone, stick to the speed limit, belt up and obey traffic signals, and we can work together to save lives on the roads this Labour Day.”
He also reminded drivers road conditions across the country have challenged following the extreme weather conditions and flooding in the last few weeks.
He said drivers needed to be aware of road conditions before hand, plan their trip using the latest road and weather information and use common sense when driving, particularly in regional areas.
Marta Pascual Juanola
Photojournalist from Barcelona, currently based in WA. Five languages speaker: English - Català - Español - Norsk - العربية.
Photojournalist from Barcelona, currently based in WA. Five languages speaker: English - Català - Español - Norsk - العربية.
