Traffic Operations
July 2005
Concern about the growing road toll in the ACT in the first half of 2005 has led to a number of ACT Policing Traffic Operations initiatives in recent months.
In tandem with the Media/Marketing team, a TV and radio campaign targeting inattention was launched in June with the salient reminder "not paying attention is killing us".
The 30-second advertisement tells the story of a family celebration turned sour when, instead of the guests (mum and dad) honour arriving at the party, two police officers appear with news of a collision.
"We decided that the graphic collision scenes were not the image we wanted to convey in our message," said ACT Policing's media and marketing senior producer/director, Andrew Parsons. "It was more about what we didn't show and what we didn't say which we believed would reach viewers best.
"No one can avoid the reality of how tragic a fatality is - for the victim's family and friends, for the emergency service personnel on the scene, for the police who have the unenviable job of informing the next of kin, and so on.
"I believe an ACT-specific advertising campaign targeting the right message will be far more effective than anything bought or brought in," Parsons added.
In a recent Traffic Operations initiative, police investigating a collision in Holt - where a 32-year-old motorcyclist sustained serious injuries after being trapped under a sedan and later died - observed a large number of patrons leaving nearby licensed premises in their vehicles trying to avoid the traffic re-direction provided by police on the scene.
Officers then conducted a targeted breath testing operation in the area, whereby 238 motorists were screened. Three motorists returned positive blood alcohol readings and one, in particular, was found to be in the high range.
In addition, 15 traffic infringement notices were issued and three cars were found to have defects.
ACT Policing's Sergeant Jeff Knight of Traffic Operations, described it as "a disappointing display of driver behaviour" and renewed his call for all road users to take greater care and act more responsibly.
"Drink driving is an unacceptable crime and a key causal behaviour in road accidents; it endangers everyone on our roads," he said.
"If you intend to drink, leave the car at home, grab a taxi or make alternative transport arrangements," Sgt Knight added.
