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Illegal manoeuvres ranked more dangerous than speeding

Recent statistics to come out of Gold Coast transport have revealed drink driving as the most common killer on the road while illegal manoeuvres came in second, leaving speed as third-highest contributor to the road toll.


A recent goldcoast.com.au report outlined statistics gathered from September 2009 to August 2010 which revealed five people died on the roads due to alcohol-related accidents in the Gold Coast area, while four died due to disobeying seemingly-innocent manoeuvre-related road rules. These included things like illegal U-turns and failing to indicate.

Two people died during that same period due to speeding-related incidents, half that of those who couldn't follow basic road rules. General manager of external relations for the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), Paul Turner, said in the goldcoast.com.au report,

"Whether you like it or not, signs saying no U-turn and double white lines are there for reasons built around safety."

Turner also said many drivers are unaware of new road rules and perhaps road users should undertake a refresher driving test to become more educated on the updated rules.

Coomera District Traffic Branch Acting Senior-Sergeant, Greg Newman, remembered a motorbike rider who died in February after trying to overtake a motorist illegally on the left-hand side, he said,

"He overtook on the inside too fast, lost control and ended up on the wrong side of the road, straight into an oncoming vehicle. That's the sort of behaviour we're seeing, people are just putting themselves at unnecessary risk."

Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland spokesman, David Soole, also pointed out that the more motorists got away with performing simple illegal manoeuvres, the more it provided them with a false sense of safety and general secure attitude toward the behaviour.

So even though speed is easy to blame for the majority of road accidents, it seems it's not always the number one cause to fatalities our roads. Either that or the bunch new speed detection cameras and campaigns to recently come out are actually working, effectively reducing the number of speeders out there.

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