Road Casualties: One of the Reasons Why There Are New Rules on Alcohol Consumption

On May 14, 1988, at about 11:00 pm, a pickup truck driving on the wrong side of the Interstate Highway 71 in northern part of Kentucky crashed into an oncoming religious church bus carrying 67 passengers. The collision between the two vehicles resulted in the death of 27 people, 24 of which were children and young adults. The rest of the passengers were seriously injured and only 6 survived with very minor scratches. The Toyota pickup truck was driven by Larry Mahoney, who, according to reports was severely intoxicated when the tragedy happened. This road disaster was considered as the worst drink-driving accident in the US history. Mahoney was later convicted and then sent to prison for 11 years. This accident prompted the government to strictly act on the safety measures every vehicle manufacturer should employ to their buses like seatbelts, lesser flammable materials and many more.

Because of this incident, the famous Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) organization became even stronger with families of the victims becoming leaders. MADD is known for its radical push of legislations conce
ing minors consuming alcohol, responsible service of alcohol courses (a.k.a. RSA course), driving under the influence and many more initiatives. This organization is active in many countries with charters in countries like Canada and Australia.

Australia is not spared from accidents similar to what happened in Kentucky 2 decades ago. According to the Roads and Traffic Authority, there had been 374 deaths in NSW alone in 2008.
Data from car-accidents.com’s record, stipulate there have been 1,601 people killed in 1,456 road vehicle disasters. In 2006 roughly causing a monthly death toll of 130 and a total of 22,500 were said to have been injured on the road during this year.

Because of these shocking numbers, the governments from around the world including Australia stepped in to tackle the issue and implemented rules, regulations, and laws that would prevent one from driving whilst drunk. In many states of Australia, there are courses that are compulsory to complete by those who are seeking employment in hotels, restaurants, and bars. One of the main courses is known as a RSA course or the responsible service of alcohol course. This course aims to prevent minors from getting alcohol from licensed establishments and to prevent severe intoxication of customers.

Other than the RSA course, there are other laws that the Australian government imposes in order to lower cases of drink-driving accidents. Many of the states also implement their own regulations on other issues about road accidents including safety measures and material quality checks on cars.

In the coming years, road accidents will not be totally eradicated. But eventually, they will be lowered because of the laws currently being implemented. It will take a lot of time, resources and commitment from the government for this to occur, but hopefully we will achieve this goal eventually.