Take it easy plea to drivers

It is the annual Christmas appeal that should not need to be made again in 2007: please slow down and make sure your family survives the holidays on our roads.

The Daily Telegraph today joins NSW Police and motoring safety advocates in calling on all drivers to slow down this Christmas to help reduce the state's unacceptably high body count — 430 so far this year.

“Every year I give warnings to city people going to the country about the dangers of overtaking. What happened yesterday is a tragic example of an overtaking manoeuvre gone wrong,” he said.

“People with multi-lane highways never overtake until that one or two-week period a year when they hit country roads and then are confronted with the choice of overtaking or sitting back and being patient.

“I've seen cars in lines of traffic passing three or four cars at a time and still only getting to town a minute before those they passed. It's not worth the risk.”

Chief-Supt Hartley was backed by NRMA president Alan Evans in calling on drivers across NSW to place the greatest importance on getting to their holiday destination rather than getting there within a certain time.

“When you've spent most of your life at a top speed of 80km/h it's certainly a challenge to be passing on single lane highways doing in excess of 100km/h, so take the safety first approach,” Mr Evans said.

He said he chose not to drive over the Christmas period wherever possible.

“It's just too high a risk from my perspective because there are too many people on the road who are unfamiliar with the environment they're in,” Mr Evans said.