'Stop whingeing and start driving better'
Stop whinging and modify your driving behaviour to prevent your or your fellow road user's death - that is the message from WA's top traffic cop after a horror three days on WA roads.
Assistant Commissioner Nick Anticich has again pleaded with the public to take more care on the roads after the deaths of nine people at the weekend.
Mr Anticich said more often that not the offending driving behaviour that led to recent deaths or injuries in WA had been predicated by similar behaviour.
"To me that is telling us that we need to look at driver behaviours and drivers need to accept that it is them that hold the key to addressing this particular issue," he said. "I believe, and this stands true, nearly all of the crashes we see that are fatal or serious injury crashes are predictable and preventable."
Mr Anticich said he often "hears the whingers" who complained about receiving infringements and did not understand it was the dangerous driving for which road users had been caught that had led to so many deaths on the roads.
"I'm sure most people here in Western Australia get those (infringements) and whinge about the fine, and do not realise that they are the very behaviours that are killing West Australians here in this State."
He predicted this year would not be good, with the road toll close to surpassing last year's 50-year low of 161 fatalities.
"We are over what we were at this point last year and it's going to get worse . . . unless the community grasps this issue," he said. "It's only when the most tragic events like last night come to the fore that we take notice."
