Cool Heads was a sobering night of road safety information for young drivers and their carers, with five informative speakers sharing powerful messages.
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At Echuca Twin Rivers Primary School on Wednesday, September 10, around 150 attendees heard from emergency service professionals and those with lived experience of road trauma.
Campaspe Police Service Area Inspector Brett Sampson gave an introduction, and left the young attendees with a message of responsibility and hope.
“You are the future. You are the ones that can change the destiny around lives lost on our roads,” he said.
“We can really change culture here. We can really make a difference.”
Major Collision Investigation Unit Detective Sergeant Stephen Hill spoke about the importance of simple choices on the road.
His presentation included real-life road trauma cases involving young people he had investigated across his career, and outlined common causes of incidents.
Det Sgt Hill reminded attendees that road trauma was highly preventable, and its impact extended beyond those in the car.
“Some of the actions that you take in relation to your driving behaviour can have catastrophic results,” he said.
“Not only for you, for your family, for your community, for your workplace — the road trauma reaches everywhere.”
Ambulance Victoria mobile intensive care paramedic Brent Law made it clear how many people are involved in a road incident.
From first responders, Air Ambulance and those in Melbourne trauma units, he said as many as 60 people might work to save someone’s life.
After sharing the details of a particularly disturbing case he attended, Mr Law made his message to the audience clear.
“Don’t be a deadly driver. Make good decisions,” he said.
“That case was 17 years ago. You can hear my voice crack. I still remember that case and many more that I see both in hospital and out of hospital.”
Echuca Moama Search and Rescue Squad president James Mackenzie-Ross reiterated the ripple effect road trauma has.
He discussed his volunteer role in the squad, which involves attending road incidents, and its overlap with his professional role at Echuca Regional Health.
“I’ll go back to work, and then the ambulance will rock up with the person that’s had a crash. That’s me reliving that sort of thing again,” Mr Mackenzie-Ross said.
“Months, even years later, I’ll get called to give evidence ... and again, we’re reliving that.
“It doesn’t just affect you. It affects every single person that goes to that crash.”
Nilsson Smyth was the final guest speaker, and he spoke openly about how road trauma had affected his life, including through his own actions.
When he was a child, Mr Smyth lost his brother to a road incident.
Over a decade later, he led police on a high-speed chase while on a suspended licence and driving drunk, resulting in his passenger losing their life.
He was charged with culpable driving causing death, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
“But that’s nothing compared to what the family that I have hurt has to live with, and I live with that choice every day,” Mr Smyth said.
“It starts with a choice. Choosing to speak up. Choosing to not get in the car. Choosing to look out for your mates.
“Being the one who steps up can be hard in the moment, but it could be the decision that saves your life.”
Leading Senior Constable Shane Roberts, who organised the event, said he hoped the night would lead to conversations between carers and their children.
He was pleased with the attendance and variety of speakers, particularly Mr Smyth.
“With Nilsson’s story, it’s not unique, but it’s very impactful. To find offending drivers to actually get up and talk about their experience, that’s very rare,” Leading Sen Constable Roberts said.
“From our perspective, I don’t think you can get a better way to get the message across.”