THE road safety message from a Central West sports coach is one to be heeded by all motorists, young and old.
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Mr Mark Kennedy, coach of the Bathurst Giants AFL club, has spoken about his concern for the hundreds of young men and women who hit Central West roads each weekend to play in sporting competitions.
He has spoken up after four young Dubbo AFL players were lucky to escape serious injury when their car flipped on the way to a match in Bathurst two weekends ago.
Incredibly, one of the first groups on the scene was a group of Charles Sturt University rugby players who were also on their way to an inter-town clash. Four of the rugby players are studying paramedics and they were able to put their training into practice in a real world emergency until the professionals arrived to take the injured driver and passengers to Orange Base Hospital.
All are now recovering, but the situation could so easily have been a tragedy. And that’s why we should all take a moment to consider what Mr Kennedy is saying.
The scene we saw two weekends ago – young people travelling between towns for competitions – is repeated countless times every weekend across the Central West.
Very often these young drivers have held a licence just a few years, and often they will have three or four passengers around the same age in the car with them.
A mix of inexperience and distraction can be a dangerous combination and Mr Kennedy wants local sporting clubs to both recognise these risks and accept a share of responsibility.
That’s not to say young drivers should not be allowed to make their own way to games or to suggest anyone in the recent accident was at fault.
But, it needs to be rammed home to all young drivers just what a great responsibility they are taking when they get behind the wheel.
They owe it to themselves, their passengers and other drivers to remain alert and vigilant. Their passengers must have it driven home to them that they, too, have responsibilities.
They must must respect the pressure on their young driver and behave in a way that does not distract or disturb them. On a three-hour trip to another town it can take just a split-second for disaster to strike.
Of course, these lessons do not just apply to the young they apply to every driver on the roads.