Minister for Police and Emergency Services Joy Burch has joined with police and other first responders in calling for road users in the ACT to support the 9th Fatality Free Friday initiative tomorrow, May 29. Fatality Free Friday is an initiative of the not-for-profit Australian Road Safety Foundation and has been running since 2007 with the aim of an intense, national focus on road safety for one specific day.
“The initiative is aimed at focusing national attention on road safety through individual pledges, putting the onus on every single road user to be personally responsible and accountable for their actions,” Ms Burch said “While police do their part by enforcing the road rules, initiatives such as this seek to remind us that road safety is everyone’s responsibility. Every member of the community, whether they ride, drive or walk, needs to make a conscious commitment to reduce the road toll.” Ms Burch added.
Ms Burch explained that last year, 1155 drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders died on Australian roads. Ten of those were within the ACT. Burch added that the current ACT road toll stands at five. Two of those were cyclists, two were motorcyclists, and one was a driver in a single vehicle collision. Last year, five states and territories achieved zero fatalities on Fatality Free Friday, but Queensland, NSW and Victoria all had one road death each.
