Staff from Police, Fire and Rescue, Emergency Services and St John Ambulance will be giving blood today at the Red Cross Blood Service, Casuarina, to mark the start of Operation Crossroads, a national road safety campaign.

Acting Superintendent, Roger Jeffrey, from Darwin Traffic Operations said giving blood this Christmas may be the most significant Christmas present of all.

“Unfortunately, road crashes kill on average almost 2,000 people and injure over 45,000 people in Australia and New Zealand every year.

“Health officials advise it can take more than 18 litres of blood to save the life of one serious crash victim (40 units).

“First responders and the community are hopeful for a fatality free Christmas and New Year period. 

“Many crashes are avoidable and have the potential to leave people seriously injured and hospitalised, creating trauma for their families over the holiday season.”

Acting Superintendent Jeffrey reiterated that responsible driving and road safety awareness requires community support and urged all drivers to be aware of the ‘Fatal 6 Factors’ which commonly lead to vehicle crashes.

“Fatalities can be caused by drink driving, speed, failure to wear a seatbelt, fatigue, inattention and anti-social driving.

“Many Territorians will be travelling long distances over the Christmas period. Fatigue is more likely to be a contributing factor in road accidents and Police urge drivers to plan rest stops and drive to conditions.

“NT Police will be taking a zero tolerance approach as we work hard to stop dangerous drivers and remove them from our roads,” Acting Superintendent Jeffrey said.

Operation Crossroads officially commences on 23 December until 03 January to coincide with the National Christmas period road toll recording period.

The current Northern Territory road toll for 2012 is 45 lives lost compared to 39 for the same time last year.