Illawarra drivers appear to have decided to drive faster during the COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year - with deadly results, according to crash data from Transport for NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Figures on road fatalities from March to July - which included the more than a month the region spent in lockdown - show that speed-related deaths spiked alarmingly.
The Transport for NSW data stated eight people died on roads in the Illawarra region - which included Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama, Shoalhaven and Wingecarribee LGAs - over those five months. That figure was identical to the number of fatalities in the same time last year.
Excessive or inappropriate speeding was implicated in five of those eight deaths - or 63 per cent.
That was a big jump on the 2019 figures where just one death was attributed due to speeding.
The alarming spike in the first half of 2020 suggests that some drivers may have changed their behaviour during the COVID lockdown.
While there may have been fewer cars on the road due to COVID-19, some of those motorists who were behind the wheel may have taken advantage of the open roads and put their foot down.
That skyrocketing percentage is higher than the state average, which saw speed a factor in 54 per cent of road fatalities in the March-July period, compared to 27 per cent in the same period last year.
"Too many people are dying on roads close to home during this health crisis," said Transport and Roads Minister Andrew Constance.
"Nearly 70 per cent of those who died when they weren't wearing a seatbelt crashed on a road in their local area.
"These aren't just figures, they are people.
"People who are missed by their families, their friends, their colleagues and their communities simply because someone decided to speed or didn't think it was important to put on a seatbelt."
In the Illawarra over the March-July period there were no road deaths due to people not wearing a seatbelt.
Across the state, not wearing a seatbelt was a factor in 17 road deaths - for seven of those speed was also a contributing cause of the fatality.
Data showed that over the entire 12 months of 2019 two people were killed and 15 injured while not wearing an available seatbelt or child restraint in crashes in the Illawarra region.
Also, around the COVID lockdown period in the Illawarra there were no fatalities related to fatigue or alcohol.
Of the five people who've died in speed related crashes in the Illawarra, four were men.
Transport for NSW Deputy Secretary for Safety, Environment and Regulation Tara McCarthy said that was a trend that was reflected across the whole state.
"Of the 65 people who've died in speed related crashes, 48 were men, and of the 17 driver and passenger fatalities not wearing an available seatbelt 13 were male," Ms McCarthy said.
"When you get behind the wheel remember you can make choices that have an impact on yourself and other road users."
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
