Media release

National Day of Action – Reducing Road Trauma on Remote and Rural Roads

Police

Northern Territory Police were out in force on Tuesday 27 August 2019, in support of a nationwide collaboration to address the increasing harm on our rural and regional roads, as well as the emergence of drug driving. NT Police were supporting Operation Gloster, a National Day of Action focussing on reducing road trauma.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Narelle Beer said every collision is avoidable.

“I’m really disappointed we have already had people injured as a result of road related harm. It’s upsetting we had a person lose their life on Monday.”

“Please wear your seatbelt, drive to the road conditions, slow down, and don’t drink and drive. Please go home safely because people love you”.

87 drivers were detected for speeding, 25 detected for seat belt and restraints offences, and 64 detected for other traffic offences. In total there were 182 traffic offences committed in a period of 24-hours.

Over 4000 drivers were tested for drugs and alcohol. Of those tested, five drivers returned a positive result for alcohol, including one before 8:30am, while one returned a positive for drugs.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst urged the public to notify the Police when they see concerning behaviour on the road.

“I urge everyone to take care and be responsible for yourself and others. Please call out bad behaviour when you see it. When you see something of concern on the road, please ring 131 444 and provide that information to Police”

Senior Sergeant Angela Stringer said it was encouraging to see most Territory road users doing the right thing.

“While it was positive to see the majority of road users obeying the rules, the NT still has the highest number of road deaths per capita on average and we need to change this. It is not acceptable for anyone to pay with their life because of mistakes made on the road. The 2019 NT road toll is lower than it was this time last year but we still have a long way to go to achieve zero”.