Road safety must take priority, police warn

Police and emergency services have responded to a major collision in the car park at Murray Bridge’s Unity College.

This was the scenario that brought students from the college, Murray Bridge High and Tyndale Christian School to a mock crash scene on Thursday, anyway.

Local highway patrol officers were first on the scene, followed by further patrols, ambulance officers, the State Emergency Service and Metropolitan Fire Service.

Sirens wailed and lights flashed as emergency services worked to assist patients and free those “trapped” in the vehicles.

Senior Constable David Garner, from SA Police’s Road Safety Centre, noted that a scene of this nature would not usually be so controlled.

“Think about what would be happening at the school at 8.30am, this car park would be full of other cars, parents and children,” he said.

He asked students to imagine themselves in the position of an injured party.

When friends and family found out information through social media, it led to speculation that was generally wrong, he said.

“Would you want your friends and family to become aware you’ve been involved in a serious collision through social media?” he asked.

“I know I wouldn’t.”

The first of the trapped victims was cut free 30 minutes after the scene was called in.

Senior Constable David Brown said the main reason for the mock crash was to get the message to students that this was what could actually happen.

“Part of this presentation is talking about poor choices, the consequences of bad driving and the issues of what people face while on the road,” he said.

He reiterated that country driving had different challenges to the city, such as livestock and bigger trucks.

“Distances are longer, people need to be a bit more alert and aware, not be so complacent while driving,” he said.

“There have been so many fatalities on the road.

“Last year was 117, we want to try and reduce that as much as we can.”

The state government wants to halve the number of deaths on our roads by 2030 – this would be fewer than 43 fatalities.

Also participating in the exercise was Annikki Aaltonen, an emergency department nurse in Murray Bridge who also volunteers with the Mannum ambulance service.

“The most rewarding part of the job is coming to work with a group of people that all want to volunteer together to help their community,” she said.

The area the service oversaw was huge, especially if the hospitals are sending out patients that need a paramedic level clinical care she said.

“The volunteers are then picking up the slack for the area or vice versa.”

“We’re all working together, the paramedics and volunteers, to look after the community,” said Ms Aaltonen.

There have been 37 fatalities on South Australian roads this year, including one just outside Murray Bridge on May 22.

• More information: www.thinkroadsafety.sa.gov.au.

Correction: The MFS, not CFS, were part of this exercise.

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