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Article by Cameron Spink
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Today we have four unfortunate examples of young adults misusing their power to drive:
Firstly there is Toyah Tate. She was caught going a speed of 180km/hr with a blood alcohol level of 0.168, that is, eight times over the legal limit! Her conduct was described by the presiding magistrate as “one of the worst [he’d] ever seen”. Despite this Ms Tate only received a 12 month suspended sentence and her driver’s licence revoked for 24 months. For Toyah this means another chance, perhaps because of her mental health or perhaps because she is pregnant. Either way, Toyah Tate is both lucky to be alive and lucky to have escaped the punishment that she probably deserved.
Case number two is Kuong Majak. This Sudan–born woman slammed her Mitsubishi Lancer into a pole. Her speed was a mere 124km/hr, her blood-alcohol level only three times the legal limit (0.146) and there were only eight people in the car at the time. Again Kuong was lucky to avoid jail time but this episode has left the twenty-five year old a paraplegic and sentenced to a wheel chair for the rest of her life.
Naomi Naylor is our third “road hero”. She was caught on two successive nights with a blood-alcohol level over the limit. The second time she was caught driving on the wrong side of the road and driving without a licence. To top it off she was still on her Ls. Her indiscretions received 18 months’ probation, the suspension of her driver’s licence as well as some further rehabilitation.
Finally there is the incident involving Aaron Burrow-Buck. He was caught with a blood-alcohol level of 0.09 and exceeding a speed of 190km/hr with two younger teenagers in the vehicle.
All of these incidents were reported today and all of the offenders are the victim of the lies that society construes. Young people believe that they are immortal, that their lives are central and their decisions do not affect anyone else. All of these perceptions are false and are placing the young adults and teens of today, as well as every other road user, in peril because they do not understand the implications of their choices.
For some of these offenders they will receive a second-chance. They will be alive and may avoid jail time. However, the reality is that our cemetery’s are filled with people who weren’t so lucky on our roads.
A few weeks back Essendon ruckman David Hille spoke of his brush with death. He reflects on a car accident that claimed the lives of three of his friends. His message is simple “belt up or suffer the pain” and he is to be commended for an attitude that will influence lives. But in the end his story may be in vain. Because it seems like no one is listening!
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