Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I know people are looking forward to a well-deserved break over this holiday season. This holiday season I'm asking drivers on our roads to drive so others survive. Over 1,200 families will be sitting around a dinner table this year with an empty chair for a loved one killed on our roads. In some cases more than one seat will be empty. We need to think of those families when we are buckling up for a drive locally or when a road trip is calling. Make sure your car is roadworthy and make sure you are in a state to drive safely because no other family deserves to have an empty seat at the dinner table.

Rural and regional roads account for two-thirds of our road deaths each year. Although it is easy to blame the concentration of rural and regional road deaths on visitors, we know locals are just as vulnerable to being killed or seriously injured. We don't need to be a hero out there and pretend we know the ins and outs and twists and turns of every road. Take the time to know your route and where the next rest area is. Check if the driver revivers are open. My message could not be more clear: never, ever compromise road safety.