How long would it take for help to arrive? Mount Isa
A new road safety billboard displaying a message tailored to the remote conditions of Mount Isa has been produced with the aim of reducing the State road toll.
Sergeant Cath Purcell said the aim of the project is to create awareness for safe and attentive driving on remote and rural roads.
“By creating a thought-provoking message that focuses on the fact that when driving on rural roads, emergency help can be a long distance from the scene of a crash,” Sergeant Purcell said.
“An analysis of road safety issues within the Mount Isa district identified that a number of serious traffic crashes occur each year on rural and remote roads surrounding the Mount Isa division.
“Crashes which occur on the remote roads around the area often involve critical life-threatening injuries, or fatalities.
“Analysis of the crashes indicated that over 70% of fatal crashes occurred on rural roads outside of townships, and 70% of the total fatalities were caused by one or more of the ‘fatal five’ factors, which include speed, seat belts, fatigue, drugs and alcohol and distraction.”
An analysis of the traffic crashes with injury indicated that nearly half of these crashes occurred on rural roads outside of townships, ranging in distance from 10 kilometres to 200 kilometres from the nearest town with emergency help.
The billboard will be placed 23 kilometres east of Mount Isa facing outbound traffic.
Acting Sergeant Luke Flanagan of Mount Isa Road Policing 
Unit said in remote areas, it can take a long time for help to arrive due to distance.
“Often when a crash occurs, the driver or passengers can be a fair distance from an area where they are able to raise the alarm for help,” Acting Sergeant Flanagan said.
“One serious crash on our roads affects a large percentage of our community, in some way.
We are a close connected community. Every person is connected through family, friends, sporting groups, and work colleagues. This is what we kept in mind when creating this project.”
Don’t forget to “Light Your Drive” as part of the QPS Christmas Road Safety campaign.
