Ministerial Statement: People urged to share their stories ...

[ozbob]

Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
22/01/2009

People urged to share their stories to highlight human impact of road toll


A new road safety campaign, Share My Story, utilising online social networks to convey the human stories behind the statistics of the road toll was launched in Brisbane this morning

Transport Minister John Mickel said while the annual road toll numbered several hundred it had an enormous and lasting impact on many thousands of people every year.

"It is estimated that close to 300 lives are impacted for every death - family members, friends and relatives, work colleagues and other people who in some way knew or had contact with the person who lost their life," Mr Mickel said.

"Last year 327 people lost their lives on Queensland roads. That is close to 10,000 people who were impacted by the death of someone they knew, and for those closest to the road crash victim, someone they loved and cared for.

"The Queensland Government is serious about doing all we can to reduce the number of people killed on our roads.

"The message is simple - if not for yourself, then for your loved ones, go online, share your story and help send the message of safe driving to all Queensland road users.

"Everyone can do their bit to help prevent more lives being needlessly lost on our roads," Mr Mickel said.

The new road safety awareness campaign is based on people whose lives have been altered forever as a result of a road crash telling and sharing their stories through a social networking website.

"The campaign deals with the impact of the road toll on people and families. It is based on reaching drivers through people sharing their experiences online - in turn influencing the attitudes and driving behaviours of others.

"I see this new campaign as the online equivalent of the white crosses on the roadside to mark the location of fatal road accidents and the loss of loved ones in those accidents."

The main feature of the Share My Story campaign is its networking website, which will provide all Queenslanders with an ongoing portal to share their road trauma stories.

Mr Mickel said much of the carnage caused by road crashes was preventable, and each and every road user had some responsibility for their own behaviour on the road.

"We can be trapped into thinking of the road toll as just a statistic, something impersonal and removed from our own lives.

"It is anything but impersonal. Road deaths have a shocking effect on those left behind and those left to pick up the pieces." he said

Television, print and on-line advertising will also communicate the personal impact of risky and dangerous road use behaviours and urge all Queenslanders to go online, share their story and help the fight against road deaths.

Mr Mickel said human behaviour played a significant role in causing road crashes and illustrating this through the voice of everyday people was the rationale behind developing the Share My Story campaign.

"The Share My Story campaign will take the approach of demonstrating the long-term and widespread effects of road trauma on family, friends, medical professionals and the entire Queensland public."

People can share their story at www.sharemystory.qld.gov.au

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[mufreight]

About time Minister Mickel gets real and has the guts to order that the laws relating to road users be enforced rather than listening to a collection of brain dead advisors only interested in justifing their continued existence rather than taking what might prove to be unpopular action to resolve the problem.
Perhaps he might like some stories from those affected by the stupidity of some like the families of the train drivers killed by an impatient idiot driving a dangerous weapon in the form of a B Double or the stories of train drivers so traumatised by their experiences that they have had to leave the job or have taken their own lives.