Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Northern Territories road toll has risen to twenty three following
a fatal crash in Pine Creek on the weekend. Compared
to the same time last year, four people died on
MT roads, with thirty one deaths for the entire year.
Now we know that crashes are going to be a
key focus of the Northern Territory's biggest road safety event
for school children. It's called Street Smart High. It's happening
(00:23):
next week. It is an incredibly good initiative. And joining
me in the studio to tell us more well, it
is Eden Bell, the senior manager of retail and Operations
at AAMT. Good morning to you, Eden, Good morning, Good
to have you in the studio. And we've also got
Superintendent Daniel Shean from the Northern Territory Police. Good morning
to you. Yeah, really good, so good to have you
(00:44):
both in the studio. Now I might go to you first,
Eden and just ask what does the event entail.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, street Smart High.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
We're in our fourth year now and it's really about
bringing some focus to those year eleven to twelve students
who are starting to think about their license and getting
on the road and probably bringing some reality to the
responsibilities of being a good driver on the road and
understanding the repercussions that sometimes poor decisions might bring.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, well this is it, you know, you think about
Like my eldest is thirteen now, so she's still a
couple of years away from getting a license. But I
tell you what, it changes the way you think about kids,
Like when they're actually at that point where it's starting
to become a reality that at some point they're going
to get behind the wheel of a car, it's a
bit scary.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's a very Yeah, it's very interesting topic.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I mean, it's something that we've partnered with government and
MAC to bring this program to Fruition. We get about
twelve hundred kids come through the program each year, and
the feedback will get it's quite incredible.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
But it's the key messages we bring.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
We're bringing a proper scenario, yeah, full scenario, crash scene,
and it's quite impactful for these kids. And you know,
I guess the outcome there is to hopefully let them
stop and think about the reality of what it means,
because often is the case, you hear about these statistics,
but what you lose sight of is the reality of
(02:17):
what sits behind that the trauma that brings to families
and friends, and you know the first responders that you know,
we need to call that out as well, to say,
you know, what an amazing job they have to do
in dealing with these matters. But the statistics are one thing.
It's the reality of crashes occur is a very different proposition.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, And making young people realize, you know, the impact
of the actions and the decisions that they make when
they are behind the wheel of a vehicle. I mean, Daniel,
you are at the forefront of investigating being there at
these times of extreme trauma for some families. How important
(02:57):
is it to really try to speak to young people,
you know, when they are at that stage of just
getting behind the wheel of a vehicle or maybe looking
at getting their license.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Yes, spot on, Katie, And like twenty seven years of policing,
I've seen some horrific crashes.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
They're avoidable crashes. We talk and you opened up with
the number of lives that we've lost on the road.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
It's not a toll.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
It is people that have died, families, loved ones who
have died on our roads.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Twenty three this year is horrific.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
And the issue that we have is the risky behavior
that's on the roads, and that's really important to talk
to the young ones about the consequences for their drive
and behavior. If you're going to use a mobile phone,
you're distracted, you're not going to see someone walk out
in front of you, You're not going to see the
driving in front of you putting the brakes on those
sorts of things, and the consequences is a crash. It
might not be a death as a result of the crash,
but it could be the fact that someone's seriously injured,
(03:48):
which impacts that person's life and other people's lives. And
it might not be the driver, but everyone around them.
We often forget about the other consequential factors of crashes,
and that is that someone could lose their livelihood, They
might not be able to work again, that might not
have the full insurance on the vehicle, don't have a
car again. So the other impacts as well that we
often forget about when we talk about crashes.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
It's so true, isn't it, Like you do really we do,
and rightly so, focus on those lives lost, but there
are so many other contributing factors that can change people's
lives forever. After a major crash. And those major crashes
they happen very regularly, probably more regularly than what people realize.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Right correct, they do, and they are caused by distractions,
drink driving, drug driving, exceeding the speed limits.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
The speed limits are there for a reason, and people think.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
That they've got a fast car, they are good driver,
so they can do whatever speed they want until something
goes wrong and then the consequences are realized.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, when you are out on the roads, like you know,
and for our Northern Territory police, what are some of
the risky behaviors that you sometimes see young people engaged?
And I know that people of all ages obviously engage
in risky behavior, but talking about those young people, what
are some of the things that you do see?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
As I said, you know, you've got other friends in
the car who might be distracting you while you're driving.
You've got your mobile phone, which it's important to take
text messages, isn't it and respond to.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
Those while you're driving.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
All these things result in that distraction. So if something
occurs in front of you and you don't see it,
your last minute reaction could cause that crash. And then
you know what, we either don't think about. Yes, the
emergency responders that have to go and deal with the
carnage on the roads and deal with the horrific scenes,
the sites, the smells, all those things live with you forever.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
And then, as I have done over.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Many times over my years, go and talk to families
knocking on the doors at silly hours in the morning
and saying I'm sorry, but your loved ones not coming
home tonight, or you need to go to hospital. And
these are the things that people don't think about, because
in the moment of fun, we often don't care about
the consequences that could unfold in a matter of seconds
in front of us.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And I do wonder as well, And I mean, I
may be wrong, but sometimes you think even less about
those consequences were you're young, you know, like it seems
like such a foreign concept when you're sixteen, seventeen years old.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
You truly think you are that you get a bit
older and you go, oh, hang on a second. You know,
these things are risky behaviors. So I'm assuming, Edan that
that's really the point of street smart high as well,
is that these young people, all of our young people,
are actually able to sort of, you know, to hear
from people like Daniel, to hear from those first responders,
but also to hear from people who've lost loved ones,
(06:26):
whose lives have changed forever.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean, look, we've got some very brave people who
come and stand up and talk to the kids and
probably bring home the reality of what some of the
consequences are and some of the decisions they make. So,
you know, it's a program about educating the kids at
a critical time. And we should also remember parents play
(06:49):
a huge role.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You know, they are role models.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
It's about getting education to those parents as well and
shaping these kids to being better drivers on the road.
And you're right, all these distractions and things poor decision
making that can very quickly lead to a very bad outcome,
but to death or otherwise. And we know from the
stats we're probably talking about twenty five percent of or
(07:14):
twenty three to twenty five percent of people in the
statistics are kids under twenty five, and so you know,
they make up a fair large junk of the community
and they are being impacted. And you know, this program
targets I think very much about it brings that reality
of the speakers come in, they bring to the to
(07:36):
the forum a real life experience and we try and
replicate a crash scene and it's based on some poor
decision making and giving them a good reflection on what
the outcome of that scenario is.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
What's sort of the feedback that you do get from
the young people that head a lot?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, we do survey all the kids at the end
of each program and for the last four years, probably
the one that stands out for us is the fact
that they do reflect or look at their parents as
being role models as to how they go out and engage.
So again, it's impactful. The kids provide some great feedback
(08:13):
to us around the program. And yeah, I think it's
an important, an important education program that we put out there.
And I think it's you know, if it saves one life,
then that's one of all.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Worth it.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Yeah, worth it.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And like I always think to myself as well, I
guess your kids get to a certain age once their
teenagers where they maybe don't listen to what you say
as much as what they did when they were younger.
But even in the car and even when they're really
quite young, they're watching what we do. If we're on
our phones while we're at the traffic lights and things
like that. They're watching that, they're thinking that that's normal behavior.
(08:48):
And so it is so important for all of us.
And you know, I'm not trying to sound like a wauser,
but it is so important for all of us to
look after not only the people in our own cars,
but make sure we're doing the right thing by everybody
else on the right.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
It's too sorry, Yeah, you're spot on there.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
And people often look to the police, what are you
doing about fixing the cartage on the road, What are
you doing about fixing all these problems? But road safety
is about everyone's responsibility, not just the cops. Everyone has
a responsibility to ensure they get from point A to
be alive and that everyone else is safe in the process.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, I reckon this is I think this is such
a good initiative. Initiative. I mean, I think it's really
important for young people to understand the impacts. And you
know what kind of risks you take on when you
get behind the wheel of a car or when you
get in a car with somebody else who maybe isn't
doing the right thing. And it sounds as though there's
going to be some incredible keynote speakers, particularly when you
(09:40):
look at the fact that the students are going to
hear from some of those road crash survivors as well Eaten.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, look, it's as I say, it's very confronting, but
at the same time it's a very important thing for
the kids to hear. As I say, those keynotes speakers
that stand up there and tell their story, you know,
they're very open and frank about it and very brave
for doing so.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But look, I reflect back again.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I mean, the statistics are really important to understand or
to get an underlying understanding of some of those causal factors.
But yeah, it's often you can get lost on the statistics.
It's about bringing back the reality of what this means. Yeah,
and it's easy to forget if you not impacted by it,
or haven't had experience around a family member or someone
(10:26):
that you know, it's easy to put that off into
the distance and say that's not me or I don't
need to concern myself. But yeah, I think it's something
that that this education pitches around giving them some realization.
And as I say, the feedback we get is often
very positive.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Now tell me, can school still register to take part
or have all the schools already registered to take part.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Unfortunate.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I'm not across the stats, but I heard we have
a full full deck and we've got people vuying for spots.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So well, that's a good problem to have.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
This is a question. My daughter said that on year
twelve and I really want to go to this. It
was not involved and yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Right, well so hopefully yeah, and so hopefully we are
in a situation where you know, maybe like I don't know,
maybe it can be expanded so all the kids can
go along, maybe not for this year, but certainly for
all the other years, because you want to make sure
that as many kids as possible are able to hear
this message.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Yeah, as I say, it's we're still in our early
years of bringing this program to the territory. So you know,
again the participation has been significant. I think last year
it was it was over for that we had people
standing in the aisles, but it was it's worthwhile, and
we encourage all schools that haven't yet considered to very
(11:48):
much think about getting their getting their registrations in for
forward period.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So it is being held on the sixth of June
at the Darwin Convention Center and look, I really appreciate
you both coming into the studio this morning to have
a chat with me an ts Eden Bell and Northern
Territory Police Superintendent Daniel she And thank you both so
much for your time this morning. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Thank you great.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Thank you.
Northern Territories road toll has risen to twenty three following
a fatal crash in Pine Creek on the weekend. Compared
to the same time last year, four people died on
MT roads, with thirty one deaths for the entire year.
Now we know that crashes are going to be a
key focus of the Northern Territory's biggest road safety event
for school children. It's called Street Smart High. It's happening
(00:23):
next week. It is an incredibly good initiative. And joining
me in the studio to tell us more well, it
is Eden Bell, the senior manager of retail and Operations
at AAMT. Good morning to you, Eden, Good morning, Good
to have you in the studio. And we've also got
Superintendent Daniel Shean from the Northern Territory Police. Good morning
to you. Yeah, really good, so good to have you
(00:44):
both in the studio. Now I might go to you first,
Eden and just ask what does the event entail.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, street Smart High.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
We're in our fourth year now and it's really about
bringing some focus to those year eleven to twelve students
who are starting to think about their license and getting
on the road and probably bringing some reality to the
responsibilities of being a good driver on the road and
understanding the repercussions that sometimes poor decisions might bring.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, well this is it, you know, you think about
Like my eldest is thirteen now, so she's still a
couple of years away from getting a license. But I
tell you what, it changes the way you think about kids,
Like when they're actually at that point where it's starting
to become a reality that at some point they're going
to get behind the wheel of a car, it's a
bit scary.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's a very Yeah, it's very interesting topic.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I mean, it's something that we've partnered with government and
MAC to bring this program to Fruition. We get about
twelve hundred kids come through the program each year, and
the feedback will get it's quite incredible.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
But it's the key messages we bring.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
We're bringing a proper scenario, yeah, full scenario, crash scene,
and it's quite impactful for these kids. And you know,
I guess the outcome there is to hopefully let them
stop and think about the reality of what it means,
because often is the case, you hear about these statistics,
but what you lose sight of is the reality of
(02:17):
what sits behind that the trauma that brings to families
and friends, and you know the first responders that you know,
we need to call that out as well, to say,
you know, what an amazing job they have to do
in dealing with these matters. But the statistics are one thing.
It's the reality of crashes occur is a very different proposition.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, And making young people realize, you know, the impact
of the actions and the decisions that they make when
they are behind the wheel of a vehicle. I mean, Daniel,
you are at the forefront of investigating being there at
these times of extreme trauma for some families. How important
(02:57):
is it to really try to speak to young people,
you know, when they are at that stage of just
getting behind the wheel of a vehicle or maybe looking
at getting their license.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Yes, spot on, Katie, And like twenty seven years of policing,
I've seen some horrific crashes.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
They're avoidable crashes. We talk and you opened up with
the number of lives that we've lost on the road.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
It's not a toll.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
It is people that have died, families, loved ones who
have died on our roads.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Twenty three this year is horrific.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
And the issue that we have is the risky behavior
that's on the roads, and that's really important to talk
to the young ones about the consequences for their drive
and behavior. If you're going to use a mobile phone,
you're distracted, you're not going to see someone walk out
in front of you, You're not going to see the
driving in front of you putting the brakes on those
sorts of things, and the consequences is a crash. It
might not be a death as a result of the crash,
but it could be the fact that someone's seriously injured,
(03:48):
which impacts that person's life and other people's lives. And
it might not be the driver, but everyone around them.
We often forget about the other consequential factors of crashes,
and that is that someone could lose their livelihood, They
might not be able to work again, that might not
have the full insurance on the vehicle, don't have a
car again. So the other impacts as well that we
often forget about when we talk about crashes.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
It's so true, isn't it, Like you do really we do,
and rightly so, focus on those lives lost, but there
are so many other contributing factors that can change people's
lives forever. After a major crash. And those major crashes
they happen very regularly, probably more regularly than what people realize.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Right correct, they do, and they are caused by distractions,
drink driving, drug driving, exceeding the speed limits.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
The speed limits are there for a reason, and people think.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
That they've got a fast car, they are good driver,
so they can do whatever speed they want until something
goes wrong and then the consequences are realized.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, when you are out on the roads, like you know,
and for our Northern Territory police, what are some of
the risky behaviors that you sometimes see young people engaged?
And I know that people of all ages obviously engage
in risky behavior, but talking about those young people, what
are some of the things that you do see?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
As I said, you know, you've got other friends in
the car who might be distracting you while you're driving.
You've got your mobile phone, which it's important to take
text messages, isn't it and respond to.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
Those while you're driving.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
All these things result in that distraction. So if something
occurs in front of you and you don't see it,
your last minute reaction could cause that crash. And then
you know what, we either don't think about. Yes, the
emergency responders that have to go and deal with the
carnage on the roads and deal with the horrific scenes,
the sites, the smells, all those things live with you forever.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
And then, as I have done over.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Many times over my years, go and talk to families
knocking on the doors at silly hours in the morning
and saying I'm sorry, but your loved ones not coming
home tonight, or you need to go to hospital. And
these are the things that people don't think about, because
in the moment of fun, we often don't care about
the consequences that could unfold in a matter of seconds
in front of us.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And I do wonder as well, And I mean, I
may be wrong, but sometimes you think even less about
those consequences were you're young, you know, like it seems
like such a foreign concept when you're sixteen, seventeen years old.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
You truly think you are that you get a bit
older and you go, oh, hang on a second. You know,
these things are risky behaviors. So I'm assuming, Edan that
that's really the point of street smart high as well,
is that these young people, all of our young people,
are actually able to sort of, you know, to hear
from people like Daniel, to hear from those first responders,
but also to hear from people who've lost loved ones,
(06:26):
whose lives have changed forever.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean, look, we've got some very brave people who
come and stand up and talk to the kids and
probably bring home the reality of what some of the
consequences are and some of the decisions they make. So,
you know, it's a program about educating the kids at
a critical time. And we should also remember parents play
(06:49):
a huge role.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You know, they are role models.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
It's about getting education to those parents as well and
shaping these kids to being better drivers on the road.
And you're right, all these distractions and things poor decision
making that can very quickly lead to a very bad outcome,
but to death or otherwise. And we know from the
stats we're probably talking about twenty five percent of or
(07:14):
twenty three to twenty five percent of people in the
statistics are kids under twenty five, and so you know,
they make up a fair large junk of the community
and they are being impacted. And you know, this program
targets I think very much about it brings that reality
of the speakers come in, they bring to the to
(07:36):
the forum a real life experience and we try and
replicate a crash scene and it's based on some poor
decision making and giving them a good reflection on what
the outcome of that scenario is.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
What's sort of the feedback that you do get from
the young people that head a lot?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, we do survey all the kids at the end
of each program and for the last four years, probably
the one that stands out for us is the fact
that they do reflect or look at their parents as
being role models as to how they go out and engage.
So again, it's impactful. The kids provide some great feedback
(08:13):
to us around the program. And yeah, I think it's
an important, an important education program that we put out there.
And I think it's you know, if it saves one life,
then that's one of all.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Worth it.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Yeah, worth it.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And like I always think to myself as well, I
guess your kids get to a certain age once their
teenagers where they maybe don't listen to what you say
as much as what they did when they were younger.
But even in the car and even when they're really
quite young, they're watching what we do. If we're on
our phones while we're at the traffic lights and things
like that. They're watching that, they're thinking that that's normal behavior.
(08:48):
And so it is so important for all of us.
And you know, I'm not trying to sound like a wauser,
but it is so important for all of us to
look after not only the people in our own cars,
but make sure we're doing the right thing by everybody
else on the right.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
It's too sorry, Yeah, you're spot on there.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
And people often look to the police, what are you
doing about fixing the cartage on the road, What are
you doing about fixing all these problems? But road safety
is about everyone's responsibility, not just the cops. Everyone has
a responsibility to ensure they get from point A to
be alive and that everyone else is safe in the process.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, I reckon this is I think this is such
a good initiative. Initiative. I mean, I think it's really
important for young people to understand the impacts. And you
know what kind of risks you take on when you
get behind the wheel of a car or when you
get in a car with somebody else who maybe isn't
doing the right thing. And it sounds as though there's
going to be some incredible keynote speakers, particularly when you
(09:40):
look at the fact that the students are going to
hear from some of those road crash survivors as well Eaten.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, look, it's as I say, it's very confronting, but
at the same time it's a very important thing for
the kids to hear. As I say, those keynotes speakers
that stand up there and tell their story, you know,
they're very open and frank about it and very brave
for doing so.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But look, I reflect back again.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I mean, the statistics are really important to understand or
to get an underlying understanding of some of those causal factors.
But yeah, it's often you can get lost on the statistics.
It's about bringing back the reality of what this means. Yeah,
and it's easy to forget if you not impacted by it,
or haven't had experience around a family member or someone
(10:26):
that you know, it's easy to put that off into
the distance and say that's not me or I don't
need to concern myself. But yeah, I think it's something
that that this education pitches around giving them some realization.
And as I say, the feedback we get is often
very positive.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Now tell me, can school still register to take part
or have all the schools already registered to take part.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Unfortunate.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I'm not across the stats, but I heard we have
a full full deck and we've got people vuying for spots.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So well, that's a good problem to have.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
This is a question. My daughter said that on year
twelve and I really want to go to this. It
was not involved and yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Right, well so hopefully yeah, and so hopefully we are
in a situation where you know, maybe like I don't know,
maybe it can be expanded so all the kids can
go along, maybe not for this year, but certainly for
all the other years, because you want to make sure
that as many kids as possible are able to hear
this message.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Yeah, as I say, it's we're still in our early
years of bringing this program to the territory. So you know,
again the participation has been significant. I think last year
it was it was over for that we had people
standing in the aisles, but it was it's worthwhile, and
we encourage all schools that haven't yet considered to very
(11:48):
much think about getting their getting their registrations in for
forward period.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So it is being held on the sixth of June
at the Darwin Convention Center and look, I really appreciate
you both coming into the studio this morning to have
a chat with me an ts Eden Bell and Northern
Territory Police Superintendent Daniel she And thank you both so
much for your time this morning. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Thank you great.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Thank you.
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