Queensland Police Service (QPS) Assistant Commissioner Ben Marcus today launched a series of road safety videos urging road users to make better decisions behind the wheel this Queensland Road Safety Week.
The videos, featuring forensic crash officers, firefighters, paramedics and a trauma surgeon, launch across the QPS social media accounts this week. They aim to increase public awareness of the dangers of unsafe driving behaviours as the state continues on a trajectory to lose 300 Queenslanders to fatal crashes in 2021.
Assistant Commissioner Marcus said it had been over a decade since the state had reached such a tragic milestone.
"We have a problem here in Queensland, and that is that too many drivers are taking risks that end in disaster," Assistant Commissioner Marcus said.
"There have been 174 lives lost on Queensland roads so far this year, which is 19 more than the same time last year.
"These videos are intentionally confronting but unfortunately, the scene depicted has been the reality for far too many Queenslanders.
"It was important for us to work with our fellow emergency services members to show the impact a crash has - on the casualties and their families, but also the police, paramedics, firefighters and health professionals whose job is to deal with these preventable events.
"We know that most crashes are preventable - the simple act of putting on your seatbelt, slowing down or ignoring your phone can make all the difference in whether you reach your destination safely or if you end up being extracted from a vehicle by emergency services.
"We don't see the people lost on our roads as just a number - they are people just like us, with families and loved ones. They can choose to make safer decisions behind the wheel that will prevent them from appearing in a real-life scenario very much like the crash depicted in these videos.
"We are doing everything we can to prevent any more lives being lost on our roads, but we need motorists to stop and listen.
"Every single driver has the opportunity to make better decisions on the road that will result in them avoiding tragic consequences."
Queensland Road Safety Week runs from 16 - 20 August.
