An Australian woman is urging drivers to “be aware of others” on the road this Christmas after she was involved in a car accident that changed her life over 35 years ago.
Michelina Pelosi, 53, was travelling from Sydney to Adelaide with her family on Boxing Day when a driver on the other side of the road fell asleep behind the wheel.
The then 18-year-old Michelina was asleep in the back seat of the car when the driver veered over into the wrong lane and collided with their vehicle, claiming the life of her uncle and leaving her with a spinal cord injury.
“I inadvertently didn’t have my seat belt on properly when I fell asleep in the car for comfort reasons. Having it on saved my life, but having it on incorrectly also broke my back,” she told Yahoo News.
She pointed to the small, easily avoidable factors that contributed to the collision and warned others to do everything they can not to make the same mistakes.
“We look back today and we could have done it differently, it could have been avoided,” she said. “If the other driver had taken more breaks, if they had travelled with someone and not on their own, if I had my seatbelt on properly — all these little things could have ended things very differently.”
Road fatalities spike over the Christmas holidays
Over the past decade, 380 lives have been lost on average on Aussie roads during the Christmas holidays, and fatalities have increased sharply over the last three years, according to Road Safety Education (RSE).
Drivers aged between 17 and 25 years old account for 22 per cent of Christmas road fatalities during this period, with young motorists facing a disproportionate risk of accidents.
Safe driving starts ‘before you turn on the key’
Aussies are being urged to practise safe driving over the Christmas holidays, and authorities are reminding drivers this “starts before you even turn the key”.
“What is the one thing we hear our loved ones say as they wave us off down the road? ‘Drive safe!’,” John Elliott from RSE said. “We hear the phrase so often that its meaning can fade, but we’re urging Australians to truly reflect on those words.”
Slowing down, avoiding distractions and checking your seatbelt can make the world of a difference.
“Be aware of others around you, take precautions and slow down. Nothing is worth rushing that much for when it could change your life forever,” Michelina said. “It can completely change your life — it completely changed mine.”
Police target dangerous drivers in Christmas road safety blitz
Queensland authorities are cracking down on road safety ahead of the Christmas holidays with drivers expected to see more mobile radar-fitted police vehicles across parts of the state.
There has already been 287 deaths on Queensland roads this year, with more than 6,000 people seriously injured or facing long-term repercussions due to road collisions.
Highway Patrol Townsville’s Officer in Charge, Senior Sergeant Robert Nalder said police will be focusing on the ‘fatal five’ behaviours — speeding, drink driving, not wearing seatbelts, and driving while tired or distracted.
“Operation Mistletoe will see police focus on these bad driver behaviours to curb the number of road fatalities this holiday season… it is a busy time of year with many people travelling to visit family and friends or their favourite holiday spot,” he said. “If we can get everybody to be more aware of their behaviour on the roads and make better decisions, it means everyone is safer,.”
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