December 13, 2022 • 11 mins
Seen some dangerous driving? Listen to this interview Highlight where Peter catches up with with Clare Dundas from Crime Stoppers Victoria where they discuss a new campaign, “You never know who’s watching!”. Help get reckless and careless drivers off our roads by sharing your footage with Crime Stoppers.
More info 1800 333 000 or
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
It's been fantastic throughout the year. Catching up with Claire
Dundas from Crime Stoppers. Some excellent topics. Crime Stoppers of
Victoria and Claire is back with us. Claire, lovely to
hear from you again.
S2 (00:16):
Lovely to be with you, Peter. It's been a great year.
We have covered a number of topics and it's been
lovely chatting with you.
S1 (00:21):
Well, what a lovely change here and some great topics
and I guess very appropriately, your topic for this afternoon
is a spot on.
S2 (00:29):
It is. It is a road safety campaign and it's
got a bit of a big brother feel with the
title of the campaign. You never know who's watching.
S1 (00:39):
We talk a bit more about how it's going to
play out, but it is so important. And this time
of the year, I mean, everyone's a bit more relaxed.
I guess we're going to why we haven't been able
to go away for a while. So those sort of
things all play into our psyche, but attention to detail
and attention was driving us to sign for it.
S2 (00:56):
Is so important, Peter. It is party season, it's holiday season.
People are going on road trips, they're attending Christmas parties,
they're attending all sorts of things. But road safety is
of the utmost importance and it is worth planning and
making sure that you're getting from A to B in
a very safe way, because as we're going to go into,
(01:17):
the stats are not saying that things are really good
on the roads out there at the moment and we
need to be diligent when it comes to road safety.
S1 (01:24):
Now that's that's bad news in itself, but kind of
a lot of this sounds like it could be avoided.
S2 (01:29):
It can. So with this campaign, you never know who's watching.
We're working with Victoria Police to target reckless and careless
drivers so we know that they're out there on the
roads and they are behaving in really dangerous ways. And
what we've done with these campaign is we've actually released
(01:50):
four cases I've never seen before, footage of drivers behaving
badly on the roads. And we're doing these to really
encourage the community to submit their own footage to Crimestoppers
to put a stop to this behaviour.
S1 (02:03):
Can you kind of outline what reckless behaviour on the
road might look like?
S2 (02:08):
Yeah. So reckless driving is a serious traffic offence whereby
the driver of a vehicle who disregard the rules of
the road. So we're talking something quite serious there, whereas
careless driving we're talking about, including things like failing to
stop or keep a look at not keeping a proper
distance behind a car and excessive speeding in the conditions.
(02:30):
So with the careless driving a person can be charged with,
get with that. Even an accident occurring.
S1 (02:36):
Now, as you said, you're asking for people to maybe
upload things that they might say that kind of can
raise the issue and sort of bring this to a
bit of a point.
S2 (02:47):
That's right. So they're all on the Crime Stoppers website,
the pieces of footage that we did release. So that's
the whole point of it. We've had those pieces of
footage submitted to Crime Stoppers and in an unusual step
and never before done, we've actually released these pieces of
footage to the public to show them how people are
behaving on the roads and to really encourage people to
(03:08):
submit their own footage, because this is how we stop
people from behaving like this, because we give these onto
Victoria Police to investigate these photos or videos of people
behaving in a way. And they actually do get charged
and in some cases arrested for their behaviour. So one
of the videos was a motorcyclist taking his hands off
(03:30):
the handlebars to text message on a freeway. So we're
talking about shocking things here. We're talking about a truck
driver who drove on the wrong side of the road
where cars had to swerve out of his way or
her way. And we're talking about serious offences. We're talking
about someone running a red light in quite an extreme way.
And so we're talking about things that can really endanger
(03:52):
the lives of people on the road.
S1 (03:53):
I guess in this day and age with a lot
of cameras around. Clare It's probably a little bit easier
if you like to capture some of this footage.
S2 (04:00):
Well, that's the whole point of this. So many people
these days have dash cam set up in their car
and they've got them for insurance purposes and things like that.
But the double whammy with these dash cams is that
they're recording people on the roads that are not doing
the right thing. And people have access to mobiles. If
you're a pedestrian, you're going down the street, you're a
passenger in a car, you have the access to record
(04:23):
these people and send it on to us. So, yes,
the prevalence of recording devices has gone through the roof
and that's why we are seeing so much more footage
coming through to Crimestoppers. And we want more footage to
come through because we really want to stop these people
behaving like this on the roads.
S1 (04:39):
So people can do that by just simply uploading the
footage that they have to the Crimestoppers Victoria website.
S2 (04:46):
It is a very, very easy, simple process. We like
to make things as simple as possible for people. So
you're literally going on to the Crimestoppers Victoria website and
you making a report and you are uploading your pieces
of footage or images you can upload for in one
report and you click. And you don't need to leave
any personal details. We do not want to contact you
(05:09):
after the fact. You are able to lead them if
you'd like, but that's not what we're asking. We just
need that footage and then we can go from there
and look at finding those people.
S1 (05:19):
I think that's one of the good things that we've
learned from you this year. Close the fact that people
are a little bit reluctant to report because they want
to get involved. I don't want to give my name
and so on. You've made the point over and over again,
regardless of which topic we cover, that you can do
this with anonymity.
S2 (05:35):
That is exactly right. That gives people a lot of
confidence in reporting and submitting their footage is that we
don't have to contact you. We don't have to require
any personal details. It's just you helping the community by
sharing what you know about careless and reckless driving. And
at the crux of this matter is, you know, we
(05:55):
don't want any more road fatalities. We've already seen 233
lives lost on Victorian roads this year, and that's up 12%
from last year. So reckless and careless drivers really put
the community in serious danger. And the important message here
is that people are partaking in that sort of behaviour.
You never know who's watching. Anyone could be recording you
(06:18):
at any time, and that can be shared with us
at Crime Stoppers and then investigated by police.
S1 (06:23):
When we talk about people at risk, Claire, I mean
obviously we've got the motorist you talked about the motorcyclists,
the men, we got pedestrians, we've got to conventional cyclists
as well. So, you know, it is kind of safe
from from being impacted by someone's bad behaviour.
S2 (06:38):
That's right. No one is safe. You can beat anyone
in the car with you. It can be pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists,
anyone is at risk with this type of behaviour. And
we really are. We're talking about, you know, people and
it's the people involved. It doesn't only affect, you know,
if you talk to anyone that's been involved in a
(06:58):
road trauma, it affects everyone, their families, their friends, the
people that witness that we're talking about lives here. So
it is really.
S1 (07:06):
Important and if you like, for the trauma and the
the impact is ongoing. I mean, can Christmas this year,
then over Christmas next year and the rest of your
life and all the Christmas it was, some of that
was taken innocently by some reckless and there will be
high gear. You'd know you'd be thinking about it for
the rest of your life.
S2 (07:27):
That that's the grave consequences that we're talking about here.
And you know, what about the people that are entangled
with these careless and reckless driving? Maybe it's not them
who were partaking in it, but as a byproduct have
been involved. This motorcyclist who had his hands off the
handlebars and was texting and could have easily crashed into
(07:48):
him because he's not paying attention. And what about the
person in that car that then, you know, at the
end of that life being lost? It's just it's a
really serious topic we're talking about and it affects all
Victorians and all people across Australia, really. So taking the
safety measures and being cautious on the roads is just
an extremely important.
S1 (08:07):
Topic and we're talking kind of anyway, Clare. I mean
country roads can be notorious for, you know, perhaps higher
speeds and people are a bit more in holiday mode
but doesn't matter. It can be the middle of the
city or in the most of outback outback Australia.
S2 (08:22):
That's right. I mean, road safety applies to all roads.
But what we do know is that any speed, sort
of any increase of five kilometres in speed over 60
doubles the chance of a fatality. So we do know
that there's a huge cause and effect relationship between speeding
and the more you know, you go up on that
(08:43):
state of matter, the higher chances you are of having
a crash.
S1 (08:47):
I guess for family and friends that can play a
role to play in terms of register, you know, encouraging
drivers in particular to just be a little bit more
sensible just in case people are getting a little bit
carried away with the spirit of Christmas.
S2 (09:00):
Yeah, that's right. I mean, leave enough time to get
to your destination so that you aren't stressing and speeding
and it's just, you know what I mean? People, it's
actually more dangerous to get into a car than it
is an aeroplane we're talking about. And I can't stress
enough how dangerous it is to drive and to make
(09:21):
sure that we're following the road rules. But yes, have
a conversation with your family and friends about it. You know,
talk about the statistics that you might hear about lives
lost on the roads and not just just sticks there, people.
And it's a good conversation to be having this time
of year because we need to plan ahead and we
need to be cautious on the roads. And the other
thing to consider is that we're actually up on the
(09:43):
five year average of lives lost. So we're not just
talking about in the last year or we're actually going
back on the five year average that we're up on
that as well. So it is a significant issue we're
talking about here. And the more people we have coming
forward and sharing footage is actually going to send a
clear message to the people partaking in the reckless and
careless driving that. You will be caught. It will be
(10:05):
sent to Crime Stoppers and it will be investigated. So
we are really sending out a clear message here.
S1 (10:10):
If people do it, upload their footage or get in
touch in any way. Heck, we do that, Claire.
S2 (10:13):
So you can head over to the Crime Stoppers dot
com on our website. That's where you can submit a
report and submit your footage. It's very easy, like I
mentioned before, but we've also got a lot of information
on the website about penalties and, you know, the risks
involved with this reckless and careless behavior. There's fines in
the thousands for partaking in this behavior on the roads.
(10:36):
You can have your vehicle impounded and there's even potential
jail time with some of the offenses that are out there.
So it is, like I said, a very serious topic
and one that we can all be more aware of.
And it really is an easy process to submit that footage.
If you have something that you are concerned about or
that you've seen. So definitely head along to the website
(10:59):
and share what you've seen with us or.
S1 (11:02):
We want to give you a call. One 800 333000.
S2 (11:05):
That's right, Peter.
S1 (11:07):
Claire, Been fantastic having you with Associate being the most
valuable asset to the program and raising lots of important
issues we look forward to. We can have January off, Claire,
but we look forward to coming back with you in February.
S2 (11:19):
I'm very much looking forward to it as well. And
from all of the Crime Stoppers team, we wish everyone
a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and
a happy holiday season.
S1 (11:28):
Yes. And be safe.
S2 (11:30):
That's right. They say.
S1 (11:31):
It's wonderful. Claire, do understand from Crime Stoppers, Victoria, one
800 333, 000. And we'll put all those details up
on our Facebook page.
It's been fantastic throughout the year. Catching up with Claire
Dundas from Crime Stoppers. Some excellent topics. Crime Stoppers of
Victoria and Claire is back with us. Claire, lovely to
hear from you again.
S2 (00:16):
Lovely to be with you, Peter. It's been a great year.
We have covered a number of topics and it's been
lovely chatting with you.
S1 (00:21):
Well, what a lovely change here and some great topics
and I guess very appropriately, your topic for this afternoon
is a spot on.
S2 (00:29):
It is. It is a road safety campaign and it's
got a bit of a big brother feel with the
title of the campaign. You never know who's watching.
S1 (00:39):
We talk a bit more about how it's going to
play out, but it is so important. And this time
of the year, I mean, everyone's a bit more relaxed.
I guess we're going to why we haven't been able
to go away for a while. So those sort of
things all play into our psyche, but attention to detail
and attention was driving us to sign for it.
S2 (00:56):
Is so important, Peter. It is party season, it's holiday season.
People are going on road trips, they're attending Christmas parties,
they're attending all sorts of things. But road safety is
of the utmost importance and it is worth planning and
making sure that you're getting from A to B in
a very safe way, because as we're going to go into,
(01:17):
the stats are not saying that things are really good
on the roads out there at the moment and we
need to be diligent when it comes to road safety.
S1 (01:24):
Now that's that's bad news in itself, but kind of
a lot of this sounds like it could be avoided.
S2 (01:29):
It can. So with this campaign, you never know who's watching.
We're working with Victoria Police to target reckless and careless
drivers so we know that they're out there on the
roads and they are behaving in really dangerous ways. And
what we've done with these campaign is we've actually released
(01:50):
four cases I've never seen before, footage of drivers behaving
badly on the roads. And we're doing these to really
encourage the community to submit their own footage to Crimestoppers
to put a stop to this behaviour.
S1 (02:03):
Can you kind of outline what reckless behaviour on the
road might look like?
S2 (02:08):
Yeah. So reckless driving is a serious traffic offence whereby
the driver of a vehicle who disregard the rules of
the road. So we're talking something quite serious there, whereas
careless driving we're talking about, including things like failing to
stop or keep a look at not keeping a proper
distance behind a car and excessive speeding in the conditions.
(02:30):
So with the careless driving a person can be charged with,
get with that. Even an accident occurring.
S1 (02:36):
Now, as you said, you're asking for people to maybe
upload things that they might say that kind of can
raise the issue and sort of bring this to a
bit of a point.
S2 (02:47):
That's right. So they're all on the Crime Stoppers website,
the pieces of footage that we did release. So that's
the whole point of it. We've had those pieces of
footage submitted to Crime Stoppers and in an unusual step
and never before done, we've actually released these pieces of
footage to the public to show them how people are
behaving on the roads and to really encourage people to
(03:08):
submit their own footage, because this is how we stop
people from behaving like this, because we give these onto
Victoria Police to investigate these photos or videos of people
behaving in a way. And they actually do get charged
and in some cases arrested for their behaviour. So one
of the videos was a motorcyclist taking his hands off
(03:30):
the handlebars to text message on a freeway. So we're
talking about shocking things here. We're talking about a truck
driver who drove on the wrong side of the road
where cars had to swerve out of his way or
her way. And we're talking about serious offences. We're talking
about someone running a red light in quite an extreme way.
And so we're talking about things that can really endanger
(03:52):
the lives of people on the road.
S1 (03:53):
I guess in this day and age with a lot
of cameras around. Clare It's probably a little bit easier
if you like to capture some of this footage.
S2 (04:00):
Well, that's the whole point of this. So many people
these days have dash cam set up in their car
and they've got them for insurance purposes and things like that.
But the double whammy with these dash cams is that
they're recording people on the roads that are not doing
the right thing. And people have access to mobiles. If
you're a pedestrian, you're going down the street, you're a
passenger in a car, you have the access to record
(04:23):
these people and send it on to us. So, yes,
the prevalence of recording devices has gone through the roof
and that's why we are seeing so much more footage
coming through to Crimestoppers. And we want more footage to
come through because we really want to stop these people
behaving like this on the roads.
S1 (04:39):
So people can do that by just simply uploading the
footage that they have to the Crimestoppers Victoria website.
S2 (04:46):
It is a very, very easy, simple process. We like
to make things as simple as possible for people. So
you're literally going on to the Crimestoppers Victoria website and
you making a report and you are uploading your pieces
of footage or images you can upload for in one
report and you click. And you don't need to leave
any personal details. We do not want to contact you
(05:09):
after the fact. You are able to lead them if
you'd like, but that's not what we're asking. We just
need that footage and then we can go from there
and look at finding those people.
S1 (05:19):
I think that's one of the good things that we've
learned from you this year. Close the fact that people
are a little bit reluctant to report because they want
to get involved. I don't want to give my name
and so on. You've made the point over and over again,
regardless of which topic we cover, that you can do
this with anonymity.
S2 (05:35):
That is exactly right. That gives people a lot of
confidence in reporting and submitting their footage is that we
don't have to contact you. We don't have to require
any personal details. It's just you helping the community by
sharing what you know about careless and reckless driving. And
at the crux of this matter is, you know, we
(05:55):
don't want any more road fatalities. We've already seen 233
lives lost on Victorian roads this year, and that's up 12%
from last year. So reckless and careless drivers really put
the community in serious danger. And the important message here
is that people are partaking in that sort of behaviour.
You never know who's watching. Anyone could be recording you
(06:18):
at any time, and that can be shared with us
at Crime Stoppers and then investigated by police.
S1 (06:23):
When we talk about people at risk, Claire, I mean
obviously we've got the motorist you talked about the motorcyclists,
the men, we got pedestrians, we've got to conventional cyclists
as well. So, you know, it is kind of safe
from from being impacted by someone's bad behaviour.
S2 (06:38):
That's right. No one is safe. You can beat anyone
in the car with you. It can be pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists,
anyone is at risk with this type of behaviour. And
we really are. We're talking about, you know, people and
it's the people involved. It doesn't only affect, you know,
if you talk to anyone that's been involved in a
(06:58):
road trauma, it affects everyone, their families, their friends, the
people that witness that we're talking about lives here. So
it is really.
S1 (07:06):
Important and if you like, for the trauma and the
the impact is ongoing. I mean, can Christmas this year,
then over Christmas next year and the rest of your
life and all the Christmas it was, some of that
was taken innocently by some reckless and there will be
high gear. You'd know you'd be thinking about it for
the rest of your life.
S2 (07:27):
That that's the grave consequences that we're talking about here.
And you know, what about the people that are entangled
with these careless and reckless driving? Maybe it's not them
who were partaking in it, but as a byproduct have
been involved. This motorcyclist who had his hands off the
handlebars and was texting and could have easily crashed into
(07:48):
him because he's not paying attention. And what about the
person in that car that then, you know, at the
end of that life being lost? It's just it's a
really serious topic we're talking about and it affects all
Victorians and all people across Australia, really. So taking the
safety measures and being cautious on the roads is just
an extremely important.
S1 (08:07):
Topic and we're talking kind of anyway, Clare. I mean
country roads can be notorious for, you know, perhaps higher
speeds and people are a bit more in holiday mode
but doesn't matter. It can be the middle of the
city or in the most of outback outback Australia.
S2 (08:22):
That's right. I mean, road safety applies to all roads.
But what we do know is that any speed, sort
of any increase of five kilometres in speed over 60
doubles the chance of a fatality. So we do know
that there's a huge cause and effect relationship between speeding
and the more you know, you go up on that
(08:43):
state of matter, the higher chances you are of having
a crash.
S1 (08:47):
I guess for family and friends that can play a
role to play in terms of register, you know, encouraging
drivers in particular to just be a little bit more
sensible just in case people are getting a little bit
carried away with the spirit of Christmas.
S2 (09:00):
Yeah, that's right. I mean, leave enough time to get
to your destination so that you aren't stressing and speeding
and it's just, you know what I mean? People, it's
actually more dangerous to get into a car than it
is an aeroplane we're talking about. And I can't stress
enough how dangerous it is to drive and to make
(09:21):
sure that we're following the road rules. But yes, have
a conversation with your family and friends about it. You know,
talk about the statistics that you might hear about lives
lost on the roads and not just just sticks there, people.
And it's a good conversation to be having this time
of year because we need to plan ahead and we
need to be cautious on the roads. And the other
thing to consider is that we're actually up on the
(09:43):
five year average of lives lost. So we're not just
talking about in the last year or we're actually going
back on the five year average that we're up on
that as well. So it is a significant issue we're
talking about here. And the more people we have coming
forward and sharing footage is actually going to send a
clear message to the people partaking in the reckless and
careless driving that. You will be caught. It will be
(10:05):
sent to Crime Stoppers and it will be investigated. So
we are really sending out a clear message here.
S1 (10:10):
If people do it, upload their footage or get in
touch in any way. Heck, we do that, Claire.
S2 (10:13):
So you can head over to the Crime Stoppers dot
com on our website. That's where you can submit a
report and submit your footage. It's very easy, like I
mentioned before, but we've also got a lot of information
on the website about penalties and, you know, the risks
involved with this reckless and careless behavior. There's fines in
the thousands for partaking in this behavior on the roads.
(10:36):
You can have your vehicle impounded and there's even potential
jail time with some of the offenses that are out there.
So it is, like I said, a very serious topic
and one that we can all be more aware of.
And it really is an easy process to submit that footage.
If you have something that you are concerned about or
that you've seen. So definitely head along to the website
(10:59):
and share what you've seen with us or.
S1 (11:02):
We want to give you a call. One 800 333000.
S2 (11:05):
That's right, Peter.
S1 (11:07):
Claire, Been fantastic having you with Associate being the most
valuable asset to the program and raising lots of important
issues we look forward to. We can have January off, Claire,
but we look forward to coming back with you in February.
S2 (11:19):
I'm very much looking forward to it as well. And
from all of the Crime Stoppers team, we wish everyone
a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and
a happy holiday season.
S1 (11:28):
Yes. And be safe.
S2 (11:30):
That's right. They say.
S1 (11:31):
It's wonderful. Claire, do understand from Crime Stoppers, Victoria, one
800 333, 000. And we'll put all those details up
on our Facebook page.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.