Latest news with #GarrathChannells
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Millions of drivers warned over two week 'cold snap' blitz as fines jump to $1250
Millions of motorists are being warned to stick to the road rules as families head out to enjoy the school holidays and authorities seek to crack down on dangerous and tired driving. Queensland police are warning they'll be out in force for the next two weeks in a "highly visible and proactive" operation dubbed X-Ray Cold Snap. The statewide road safety campaign will run until Sunday 13 July when the school holidays comes to an end in the state with police particularly keen to ensure drivers embarking on long trips take precautions. "Fatigue is a really considerable factor across holiday periods, usually where families travel long distances across unusual roadways and destinations," Acting Chief Superintendent Garrath Channells said. "The state of Queensland is obviously quite large, and you can travel for extended periods of time. I would just ask anyone that is traveling long distance, particularly on unusual roadways, to drive to the conditions always and take time to stop and rest if you're exceeding two hours of driving, so that you're managing fatigue, and if possible, swap drivers and share the load." So far this year, there has been 136 road fatalities on the state's roads, that's 7.8 per cent higher than the previous five-year average for the same period. "And we've had thousands of serious injuries that could be lifelong, traumatic events like a spinal cord injury that that person then has to live with for the rest of their lives, and the family have to provide support for the rest of that time," Superintendent Channells said. "Poor decision making in a split second can have tragic and traumatic outcomes." Drivers warned of road rule change with $961 fines just days away Controversial road rule change to impact a million Aussies from July Drivers erupt at council's 'embarrassing' new roundabout The winter school holidays are traditionally one of the busiest periods on Queensland roads with police ramping up their presence from today. The blitz will also coincide with a planned jump in the price of fines for drivers caught doing the wrong thing. From Tuesday, July 1, motorists caught using their phone behind the wheel or not wearing a seatbelt will cop a whopping $1,250 fine. A similarly expensive hit to the hip pocket will come for drivers exceeding the speed limit by 30km/h. The fine hikes are the result of a scheduled increase in the value of a penalty unit. While Queensland has by far the toughest financial penalties for drivers, other states also enforce yearly increases in the cost of road fines. The situation in Queensland reflects a larger, alarming trend. Last year, 1,300 people died on Australian roads — the highest toll since 2012. It's part of a four-year rise in deaths not seen since before seatbelts became mandatory in the 1960s. The final three months of 2024 alone saw 359 lives lost — the deadliest quarter in more than a decade. Road safety advocate Peter Frazer OAM, whose daughter was killed by a distracted driver, said the problem goes beyond driver error and argues we have a cultural issue when it comes to not taking road safety seriously enough. "The very first thing that we need to do is to flip everything on its head and start dealing with the reality of risk on our roads," he told Yahoo News Australia recently. "We've got to have our governments start doing much more active enforcement, both police enforcement and also automated enforcement, which we can do immediately." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
ABC News
09-06-2025
- ABC News
More than 5,000 people caught drink driving in Queensland so far this year
Queensland police are catching an average of more than 40 people a day drink driving, as the state continues to ramp up its random breath testing regime following a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Superintendent Garrath Channells from the road policing command said there had been 5,233 drink driving offences to the beginning of April this year. "About 40 Queenslanders have been detected for various drink driving matters everyday on our roads," he told ABC Radio Brisbane. "They place themselves in a situation and more importantly, they are putting others on the road at risk." Police have undertaken more than 740,000 breath tests across the state since January 1, and are on track to conduct more than 2 million tests in a year for the first time since the pandemic. Despite increased testing every year since 2020, the amount of people being caught drink driving has been in decline. In 2022, just over 17,059 drink drivers were detected by police. In 2023, that number was 15,860, and in 2024 it was 15,364. Drivers with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.10 were the most commonly detected each of those years. Detective Superintendent Channells said people "intending to have a few" should always organise a way home that doesn't involve driving. "Either have a designated driver who is safe to get you and your friends home or have an alternate plan," he said.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla driver slapped with $1,800 fine for 'inexcusable' road act
An electric vehicle (EV) driver has been slapped with a $1,854 fine after getting caught going twice the legal speed limit in a school zone last week. Police described the act as "inexcusable" and thrust a six-month driver's licence suspension along with eight demerit points, pointing out the "crucial reason" for school zones is to keep children safe from speeding cars. The incident occurred last Wednesday in Southport, in Queensland's Gold Coast, with the 38-year-old man immediately pulled over by police. He was clocked driving at 92 km/h in a 40 km/h, with footage of the Tesla speeding captured on a police dashcam. Garrath Channells, Queensland Police Service Chief Superintendent said an incident like this is a perfect example of the kind of excessive speeding that prompts fatalities on the road. "School zones exist for one crucial reason—to keep our children safe," he said. "Speeding reduces reaction time and makes it harder to stop quickly if a child crosses the road while entering or leaving school. "We must all play our part in protecting the most vulnerable road users, especially our children." As of Monday, 37 lives have been lost on Queensland roads this year and the number of road deaths has risen nationwide in the last few years. 😲 Travelling dad's 'amazing' find on Aussie road stops traffic for 20 minutes 🔋 Big shift on Aussie roads as electric car market hits 'major milestone' 👋 Little-known traffic light hack to hit coveted 'green wave' Speeding continues to be the top cause of road fatalities in the country and the death toll has steadily inclined over the last few years. During the last 12 months ending in January, there were 1,324 deaths on Aussie roads — an increase of six per cent compared to the previous year, according to the National Road Safety Strategy. "Speed is the key factor in 99 per cent of crashes," Dr Chris Stokes, road safety researcher at the University of Adelaide previously told Yahoo. "The faster you hit an object, the harder the impact is going to be." Driving less than 5 km/h over the speed limit is enough to double the risk of a casualty crash, with extreme incidents like the one in Southport viewed by authorities as an accident waiting to happen. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
