Fatality Free Friday 2023

Friday, May 26, 2023, is Fatality Free Friday.

This commemorative day is about much more than just a single day – it operates on the belief that if we can go one day without a death on the road, we can demonstrate the impact a focus on road safety can have every day of the year.

Road safety is a global issue that ranks as one of the most pressing matters facing society today. The social, economic and emotional costs of road fatalities are immense.

No one should be killed or injured on our roads because another motorist was distracted by their mobile device, in a hurry, impaired or tired. Road deaths are the leading cause of death for young and middle-aged people and yet are mostly avoidable and preventable. All road deaths are tragic and senseless, however, the death of somebody in the prime of their life is particularly devastating. The death or serious injury of a loved one has wide and ongoing detrimental effects on friends, family and children, and generates a deep wound that in most cases will never heal.

How can is ever be reasonable that looking at that text, or going a bit too fast, was a good trade-off for the pain and suffering of another family losing their father, their mother, their daughter or their son?

How do we get the message of “drive so others survive” to land?

One proven way is enforcement. New South Wales and Queensland in Australia are the only two jurisdictions in the world to run widespread phone use enforcement through 2022, suppressing that dangerous behaviour. While they didn’t decline their road deaths over the last 12 months, they didn’t go up substantially like every other comparable jurisdiction we’ve piloted enforcement cameras in.

Road safety should be on your mind every day of the year. You can promise to choose road safety, take responsibility for yourself and others, obey the road rules and be a safe road user.

Header image by the Australian Road Safety Foundation, founders of Fatality Free Friday.