Transport for NSW (TfNSW) has recruited a long-serving NSW Police traffic and highway patrol officer to be the face of its social media campaign on the devastating impacts of casual speeding.
Deputy Secretary of Safety, Environment and Regulation at TfNSW, Tara McCarthy said the Every K Counts campaign video will feature Coffs Harbour-based Senior Constable Wallace Brooks and be aimed at educating motorists about the serious consequences of casual speeding
“Going ‘just a bit over’ can be the difference between being able to stop in time or not at all,” Ms McCarthy said.
“Travelling at the 65km/h in a 60km/h speed zone doubles the risk of a casualty crash.”
She said any extra speed meant extra impact force – “and the human body can only tolerate so much before death, or serious injury is all but inevitable.”
Senior Constable Brooks said he was happy to see a decline in the overall road toll over the last 20 years, but was dismayed that speeding continued to be a leading contributor to road trauma.
“I’ve been working as a traffic and highway patrol officer for 25 years, but you never get used to visiting a crash site or hearing the jobs over the radio,” Senior Constable Brooks said.
“Visiting family members to tell them their loved one has been involved in a fatal crash is a devastating part of my job.”
He said that in the five years to 2020, at least two-thirds of speed-related deaths and serious injuries occurred when a driver or rider was travelling no more than 10km/h over the speed limit
“There is absolutely no reason to be speeding,” Senior Constable Brooks said.
“When I am called to a crash in Coffs Harbour, there’s a good chance that I know the people involved, which is scary.”
