Please drive safely and think about your actions

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Explorer385

Explorer385

Terry Rushton
Joined
Dec 2, 2013
Messages
344
Reaction score
310
Location
Canberra, ACT
Hi all,

Last Friday during peak hour (6pm) in South Canberra a young man in a car fled from Police and was involved in an accident after running a red light. The driver was killed, his pregnant girlfriend badly injured (she gave birth safely the next day though) and 3 other people badly injured.

It happened not far from my home, the first Policeman on the scene was a family friend, a young Constable who had,to deal with the scene until the arrival of more senior officers.

This was an avoidable, senseless waste of life which will have far reaching consequences for all involved.

Please please please drive safely and consider others. If you are a young or old, it doesn't matter, nothing is worth such an unbelievable tragedy.

Terry

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-...bah-accident-had-previous-convictions/6755876
 
I understand where your coming from, though i think your choice of example in this instance is somewhat flawed, as was the drivers attitude to others.

The problem with this instance has less to do with "safe driving" as to more about the drivers view of life and others in general.

Avoidable? Well, yes of course, if he had followed orders not to drive in the first place. This was a young man responsible for at the minimum, two other lives he held disregard of their safety, and unready to "cop his lick's" in regard to his wrongdoing.

Seems our political correct and child safety laws have a lot to answer for in regards to kids understanding how actions have repercussions, and with freedom of action comes "responsibility".... kids appear to live a life with the mantra "Do what you like, just don't get caught".

I do feel for the partner's & child's loss but don't feel he was a good example of how to live in a community. I hope they manage to get to a good place and can move forward in his absence.

I'm also sorry your friend had to view or be part of the story, and hope he too can continue his duties in a safe manner and not have to experience too much of these outcomes. Glad he wasn't hurt as well.

Gypsy
 
This is happening way to much these days, just too many idiots on the road that have no respect for any other road users or other people for that matter, penalties need to be much higher for anyone trying to evade police when they should pull over & stop, 12 months jail minimum, no excuses & for those that try to use the excuse they were on ice & didn't know what they were doing, stuff them, 2 yrs jail minimum.
Then if they cause the death of someone then give them life, atleast 25yrs minimum, no parole. Sick of hearing families say it wasn't there fault because they had taken ice, what a load of BS, they had the choice, they didn't have to take it, just like anyone does when police try to pull them over, they make the choice so they deserve what happens to them.
I'm just glad it was the driver that was killed in this crash linked above & not the pregnant woman, her baby or other innocent road users.
Wasn't that long ago that I had a car come out of a side street only around 20-30 metre's in front of me while he was being chased by police, this idiot nearly took out 3 or 4 cars & then went straight around a round about without giving way & nearly hit more cars.
People say police shouldn't chase but that just gives these idiots extra incentive to take off instead of pulling over, I don't care if these idiots are killed, they shouldn't have done the wrong thing in the first place, putting other innocent peoples lives at risk & should have pulled over, its just a pitty so many other innocent people get caught up in their stupid decisions.
Sorry if my comments upset some people but that's just how I feel about these idiots on the road, kids & young people have it way to easy these days, a good kick up the rear or the strap taught many of us a good lesson when we were young but no, can't have that now.
 
Agree 100% Ozziii, only I would make the sentences longer and make the jails more like jails and not holiday camps where inmates have "rights". I believe once you have been found guilty of any serious crime you should forfeit all your "rights". Pay TV, gymnasiums and 3 good meals a day is more than a lot of pensioners can afford, bring back the rock piles I say and make jail a deterrent, maybe then these dropkicks would think twice next time.
 
Not the first time he's fled from police either and driving an unregistered vehicle without a licence. It's hard to imagine that his girlfriend would not have known this as well but got in the car heavily pregnant. I have no sympathy for this clown and am glad the victims of his actions were not killed or severely injured.
Jon
 
Need less powerful cars on the road as well. Why are cars being made that go well over 150 to 200kph when our roads are 120 max?

When I was driving to SA two months back a family SUV over took me and it had 2-3 kids in the back, I was going the speed limit of 110 and this SUV must have been going about 160kph. Just plain crazy, even worse when there's kids on board.

I see it all the time when travelling. Saw a motorbike fly past me on the Hay Plains once, would have been going nearly 190kph.

I like watching fast cars and all, but the only place for fast cars should be on a track.
 
Its not just the speed that causes problems, I've seen crashes at lower speed where people have been seriously hurt or killed, just depends on the type of crash. But I do agree though, speed has a lot to do with most crashes.
There was a crash in a Ballarat suburb a few months back where 2 idiots on ice had stolen a small SUV, chased by police but chase was stopped well before the crash, the idiots kept going & on a straight section of road in a 60 zone with other traffic in front of them & coming towards them, they had a head on with an elderly couple in a WH Statesman, both the elderly couple got serious injuries, were taken to hospital & ended up being flown to one of the big hospitals Melbourne. The idiots who stole the car didn't care though, they got out & ran from the scene, pretty sure they got caught later though luckily.
 
As an addendum to my post above...I read with curiosity that a "fundraiser" pledge site for the drivers "partner" & child has been established.

One wonders if the heartfelt public that have & will contribute, have offered an equal amount to the other "survivors" of this "avoidable incident".

After all, had he been "responsible" (and his partner, knowing his circumstance), they would not be in their pain and injury either.

Hope some of the contributors manage to read this and act accordingly.

Gypsy
 
Lives lost out of Stupidity is appalling...

Accidents will always be with us, no matter how hard we try to avoid and even miss-adventure such as diving into shallow or un tested water... But some people just never seem to think or learn from previous behaviour - even their own.

But as stated above.

GypsyGoldAu said:
Seems our political correct and child safety laws have a lot to answer for in regards to kids understanding how actions have repercussions, and with freedom of action comes "responsibility".... kids appear to live a life with the mantra "Do what you like, just don't get caught".
Click to expand...

It is not just kids but many adults as well.

And not just driving or drugs or whatever... But also a common comment / piece of advice given to those Detecting.

Not so much on the better Fourms but FB and other Social media is very much "Do what you like, just don't get caught" and if you do get caught "Blame someone else".
 
GypsyGoldAu said:
As an addendum to my post above...I read with curiosity that a "fundraiser" pledge site for the drivers "partner" & child has been established.

One wonders if the heartfelt public that have & will contribute, have offered an equal amount to the other "survivors" of this "avoidable incident".

After all, had he been "responsible" (and his partner, knowing his circumstance), they would not be in their pain and injury either.

Hope some of the contributors manage to read this and act accordingly.

Gypsy
Click to expand...
A friend of mine is a first responder to road fatalities down in Tassie and i can tell you that from what he and others see and go through is bloody horrific. And the sad thing is that those scenes are often totally avoidable. It's the innocent bystanders and people that have to deal with the aftermath of the carnage that suffer the most imo.
 
Heatho said:
In Sydney I feel like I'm the only one who uses an indicator these days........
Click to expand...

Adelaide (and this may well apply to other states) has some of the most arrogant, through in attention and selfishness, and aggressive drivers I have come across. I don't know what has happened to the 'chuck another shrimp on the barbie' country of ours but there seems to be a common theme spreading through everyday life.
 
Martin said:
Need less powerful cars on the road as well. Why are cars being made that go well over 150 to 200kph when our roads are 120 max?

When I was driving to SA two months back a family SUV over took me and it had 2-3 kids in the back, I was going the speed limit of 110 and this SUV must have been going about 160kph. Just plain crazy, even worse when there's kids on board.

I see it all the time when travelling. Saw a motorbike fly past me on the Hay Plains once, would have been going nearly 190kph.

I like watching fast cars and all, but the only place for fast cars should be on a track.
Click to expand...

You said it Martin, only place to drive fast is on a track full stop and good and competent drivers understand that, no need to ban fast or hi powered cars, it's the drivers that are at fault not the car, "an underpowered overloaded SUV, with children on board", that guy should loose his privilege to drive a car, then have to clean up an accident scene, then do a defensive driving course before he can get his license back! Full stop.

All my girls got a defensive driving courses for their 18th birthdays, should be a mandatory school curriculum subject and then increase the drinking age to 21 to give them 3 years clearance imo.
 
No one cares or respects anyone else these days, its all me me me, & all to impatient to wait 5 - 10 seconds so they just pull out in front of you, even in 100km/h zones, then just drive off & pick up speed slowly, I even had a school bus do that to me not too long ago, while going up a hill & it had kids on board. Ballarat is one of the worst places for stupid drivers I've seen & I've lived in a fair few places in Vic & some in NSW, they just don't have a clue down here some of them.
 
AngerManagement said:
Lives lost out of Stupidity is appalling...

Accidents will always be with us, no matter how hard we try to avoid and even miss-adventure such as diving into shallow or un tested water... But some people just never seem to think or learn from previous behaviour - even their own.

But as stated above.

GypsyGoldAu said:
Seems our political correct and child safety laws have a lot to answer for in regards to kids understanding how actions have repercussions, and with freedom of action comes "responsibility".... kids appear to live a life with the mantra "Do what you like, just don't get caught".
Click to expand...

It is not just kids but many adults as well.

And not just driving or drugs or whatever... But also a common comment / piece of advice given to those Detecting.

Not so much on the better Fourms but FB and other Social media is very much "Do what you like, just don't get caught" and if you do get caught "Blame someone else".
Click to expand...

Agreed there are many "adults" and detectorists (....choose any "hobby" here... i see it in aerial RC as well) that also live to the DWYL,JDGC mantra above....trouble is these "adults" (i'm thinking 18-45 here) are the product of a society lost in being able to convey a "healthy respect of the law" as a result of miscreant behavior.

That alone would seemingly appear to be an easy fix, yet when one looks at the absurdity of criminal sentences (hugely reduced over the last 30-40 yrs)handed down by the courts, the youth of today don't see any, or very little, impediment to said bad behavior.

Much of this lack has derived from the "liberal mindset" dating back to the late 70's and the avarice of the 80's, wherein the "cane" in high schools were banned as deemed to be an "assault" on the poor young dears, and greed was the impetus to achieving your desires (at all costs).

The "school cane" was the intermediary continuance in the "real world", of what our parents taught us in the home, supported with the "smack" when we did wrong. This is now missing, and outside the home there appears to be no repercussion to bad behavior.

This coupled with the "look at meee!!!" millennium generation who tend to lack foresight in their actions (Y-Tube, FB etc) attributes, sadly, to a greater number of these unfortunate incidences.

Sometimes going backwards can be a good thing for the greater community imo, but liberal protagonists will yell louder than the likes of me can obtain to make the difference required.

Glad i won't be around in 20 yrs to see the "new world order".....cause it's not looking good now, and only getting worse. :|

Signed, by a latter day GOM,
Gypsy
 
Just some clarification here: I think the driver got what he deserved and the ABC story clearly shows that it was attitudinal and commonplace for this guy to be an idiot.

My point here was to point out that there are consequences to those left behind, including attendees to the accident, those involved, injured and not injured (if any) as a result of the accident, families friends and others.

This idiot put lots of people in danger, many times as it appears from the reports, and got his just deserts in the end. Unfortunately, others always come out worse off in these situations.

When you check the ACT Policing Facebook page there are a number of posts laying the blame on the police. What crap!

It was totally avoidable! It was his fault!

I urge others to think about their actions and the consequences.

I agree with nearly all of the sentiments expressed in the posts on this subject.

My dad always said "when I was young if you got a kick in the ar$e from the coppers you got another good kick in the ar$e when you got home, now your parents and others want to sue the copper for assault"

Obviously, many of us share the same view. Pity a lot of other bleeding hearts want to blame everybody else for their own problems.

Accidents like the one above are a consequence of such attitudes.

Terry
 
There should be more random tests done to control this ice epidemic this drug is worse than heroin and has just become a lot cheaper I tell you now if someone on ice or any other drug for that matter had hit and killed any of my family members I don't think they would make it to see a prison sentence not saying this kid was on ice but does sounds like a ice related incident
 
Explorer385.... well summarized, but i do have a query as your in the A.C.T.

As i noted previously, there is a call-out for donations for the drivers partner....are you aware of a similar for the others now suffering injuries as a consequence of his behavior?

If not, would it be possible for you to get one started? (i'm not computer or social media savvy enough to do myself).

As to whether he was on drugs at the time, well that's just speculation.....and even if he was, what does that say for his partner also being in the car?

As she gave birth the following day, i imagine she may have been having contractions, and as such they "may" have been on their way to hospital anyway.....or they may have just been going to the shops to get some milk & bread. It's easy to speculate, so let's leave it until more facts become available...... i just hope the "innocents" in this scenario are also offered assistance to cover their costs and get any "help" they require in the future.

Gypsy
 

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