YOUNG drivers and their parents at a road safety meeting last week in Melton were told that some of the stories from road trauma victims would make them uncomfortable.
The stories, in fact, shocked the young audience.
Some of the teens had been ordered or advised to attend the road safety forum after their hoon behaviour brought them before a magistrate.
Barely recognisable wrecks of cars illustrated stories of how culpable driving had changed others’ lives forever. The images were aimed at shocking the teens.
Melton resident and TAC ambassador George Greaves spoke of losing his 24-year-old brother Craig Sherlock in 1995 because of drink-driving and the lasting effects on his family.
“My father drank himself to death after Craig died. I loved my brother, but he was stupid [in drink-driving].
“Say to yourself, as a son, as a daughter I have a responsibility [to drive safely],” Mr Greaves said.
“Tell yourself that ‘my actions and my driving could get me killed or someone else killed’.”
Narelle Bowden spoke with the kind of sadness common with grieving families. She felt deflated, she said, but was determined not to let the death of her nephew remain just a statistic.
“I’m not a paid actress or a TAC worker … I am a grieving aunty,” Ms Bowden said.
She spoke of the horror she was faced with as she saw the empty booster seat of her nephew in the wreckage.
Ms Bowden begged people to drive safely.
“Having a licence is a privilege, not a right,” she said.
Magistrate Noreen Toohey provided the reality of what the courts deal with regularly.
She said there was nothing worse than parents having to identify their children at a morgue.
“There will never be enough police to cover our roads. The community have to act as role models,” she said.
‘Daniel’, speaking on behalf of the TAC, told of the trauma he was responsible for, having been the driver of the car that struck and killed his friend.
“As I tried to feel for her pulse, all I could hear was my own heartbeat,” he said.
“The impact is forever; it doesn’t get any easier.”
“[Before the accident] I developed a bullet-proof attitude, but to the young people here, think about the future, don’t risk a lifetime for one good night out.”
Leading Senior Constable Allan Edwards said he has attended more than 200 fatal accidents while at Melton.
“Just a touch of two cars at high speed, that is all it takes … the deadliest weapon invented is the car.”
He spoke directly to the young audience.
“I hope I never have to come and knock on your parents’ doors.
“But I’ve got no doubt that I’ll see some of you wrapped around a tree if you continue to drive the way you do,” he said.
Djerriwarrh project officer Chantelle Epere is urging all young people to take up the driver behaviour survey to help shape future safety initiatives.
Visit: surveymonkey.com/s/meltonyoungdrivers
