(letter to the editor, Canberra Times, published to ** 13 March 2012, published in full in March 14 editions of Bungendore Mirror and Braidwood Times)
My heart goes out to all those whose lives will never be the same as a result of losing their loved ones on the Kings Highway last weekend. These tragic events are yet another wake-up call to all of us who drive, a graphic reminder that the lower speed limits on some sections of the road, advisory speeds on bends, and unbroken lines on bends and crests are there for a reason. We cannot keep blaming the road, and it is hard to imagine that there will ever be enough money to build a dual carriageway down the Clyde. But we all can, and must, learn a lesson from these events and take the utmost care to drive according to conditions, and if it takes an increased, ongoing police presence on the highway in marked and unmarked cars to make sure we do, that needs to happen.
As a Palerang councillor and resident of the Braidwood area, I travel the Kings Highway frequently and invariably with trepidation, not because of the road but because of the acts of dangerous driving that I witness nearly every time I am in my car, whether they be by people travelling at high speeds, overtaking in unsuitable places or tail-gating, apparently oblivious to the consequences of the car in front having to brake suddenly, for whatever reason. We drivers have a responsibility not just for our own lives and those of our passengers, but for others on the road too, and for the police, the ambulance drivers and the emergency services personnel** who must deal with the consequences of the rush to get to the coast or Canberra and elsewhere a little bit sooner.
Catherine Moore