Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we know the Northern Territories road deaths have reached
a terrible high this year. As of well as I
understand it, there's been fifty three lives lost on Northern
Territory roads and the Major Crash Unit has now released
the statistics concerning the first of those fifty two deaths.
And the cause. Now joining me in the studio right
(00:22):
now is Detective seeing your sergeant Richard Musgrave. Good morning
to you, Richard.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Morning, Katie morning, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
For your time this morning. Now, Richard, the volume of
road deaths that we have seen this year has been
astronomical for all the wrong reasons. I understand that that
death toll has actually risen.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, unfortunately, as of this morning we were holding some
of the information back to allah of the family that
deceased to deal with it. But as of this morning,
unfortunately we are in our reporting fifty four deaths for
the year.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Fifty four deaths And was that so that was a
female who'd passed away?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, so Wednesday last week a female pedestrian stepped out
from entry on a bike path or a pedestrian path
and sadly, a youth who was riding down the road
just inadvertently or collided with her. She suffered unsurvivable injuries
(01:27):
and passed away as a result over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
How incredibly tragic for everybody involved in that situation is
there's no indication that that youth was doing anything wrong,
that person was just riding their bike.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
No, it's one of these really really sad circumstances where
no one did anything wrong, and it's just a series
of unfortunate mishaps just jelt to will together to result
in this tragic circumstance.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Oh goodness, may I mean, my heart goes out to
everybody involved in that city situation. That sounds incredibly like
a terrible situation for everybody involved. And I guess the
rarity in that situation, though, Richard, is that a lot
of the time, you know, unfortunately in that situation it
wasn't avoidable. But a lot of the time, a lot
(02:17):
of these road deaths actually are avoidable. And I know
that you have indeed released some of the reasons or
some of the contributing factors I should say, in relation
to those deaths.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yes, kay, oll Katie. So we're trying to get the
message out there to anyone who uses the road we
don't want to focus on drivers. It's everybody who is
on the road and is using the road. That can
be the drivers, it can be pedestrians, it can be cyclists,
passengers in a vehicle. Everybody has a responsibility to use
(02:52):
that road in a safe metal manner, not only for
themselves or their own families, but for other people too.
The stats that we've released, we're focusing on what has
colloquially we've been termed the fatal five, which are the
main five reasons that culminate in these fatal accidents, and
(03:13):
that's alcohol or drugs, speed, seat belts, in attention, or fatigue.
And the stats that we've released show that, sadly here
in the NTY, out of fifty four desks this year
or lives lost on the road this year, we're looking
at seventy percent of those are related to drugs or
(03:33):
alkohol on the road, which just blows my mind.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It blows mine too, like I can't believe that people
still get behind the wheel of a vehicle while they're
either intoxicated or impacted by drugs. And for me, I
sort of go back to it's one thing to put
your own life in danger, but to put the lives
of others that are on the road in danger as well,
or those in your own vehicle as well, I just
find quite astounding.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And that's exactly right. It's a decision that we all
make if we do climb behind the wheel or we
walk on the road while intoxicated. Because don't forget that
if out of those seventy percent of those fifty four deaths,
thirteen of those can be attributed to pedestrian deaths, and
out of eighty five percent of those thirteen pedestrian deaths,
(04:20):
alcohol and drugs are going are involved. And that goes
back to my core metal messaging. It doesn't matter whether
you're a driver or whether you're walking on the road.
If you're affected by alcohol and you stand a really
good chance of causing a fatal or collision, that's you,
that's your family, that's the other people's lives affected forever.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, that was what I was going to ask in
terms of those pedestrian deaths. And when you say that
alcohol is a contributing factor, is that both by drivers
but also the pedestrian.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
That's right, Yeah, so that's all that's seventy percent figures
am algamated with pedestrians and drivers.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It must be. I mean, there's so there's so many
things that are concerning about these statistics. But when you
look at the drugs and alcohol, what does that say
to you? When I mean you are somebody, you and
your team have to go out to these terrible fatalities
and you then have to, I'm assuming, speak to the
families of people who have who've lost love once.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
That's right, Katie. I mean, obviously, my team and I
have to deal with the mess and the trauma left
on the road by these incidents. But what a lot
of people don't realize is we have to also deal
with the affected people's or families, which takes its toll
on the team more than just as much as having
(05:49):
to deal with the trauma on the on the road.
You know, when we look at these figures, and again,
unfortunately we're focusing on alcohol and drugs because it's by
far the greatest cause of our fatalities or lives lost
on the road, But we mustn't forget about speed and
(06:09):
seat belts, which again the figures are way too high.
That's you know, thirty three percent of our fatal crashes
are caused by speed and seventeen percent of people not
wearing their seat belts. We've got to look at that alcohol.
We know that it's that al correlated harm is a
huge set of social issue in the Northern territory that
(06:32):
impacts everybody, not only the drivers, but it folters through
to all sorts of other incidents.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, and look, just having a close look as well
at some of these further detail, Le's understand it. Men
made up sixty seven percent of those of the deaths.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yes, that's right. And I think if you look at
the other incidental stats of male female, how many occur
at night, the people that are involved, it just goes
to it builds you a picture of who is using
the road and in what.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Capacity, and the other part of that. From what I
can see that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have also
dominated those numbers by the look of it, fifty eight
percent of those who died being First Nations people.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes, that is a very sad reality that these stats
show that a lot of work needs to be done
in that in that realm, and the police, together with DIPPLE,
together with MACCA and a range of other non government
and government organizations are working quite actively in that space.
(07:46):
We're trying to address ways of getting the messaging out
there using media, using personal visits, because obviously some of
the areas that we get to media isn't a big
thing out there. So we're working with community leaders and elders.
As I said, a number of these government agencies or
(08:07):
non government agencies are releasing media campaigns but were spoken
in different languages. And we're trying to get that messaging
out there as much as we possibly can.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And this is the thing we've got to try and
do something, got to try and do. I don't know
what the answer is. I don't know how we do
things slightly differently or how we get that message through.
But the number of lives lost is terrible. It is
much higher than last year as well as Nash, Yes.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Sir, I mean at this time we're sitting at fifty
four lives lost on the road at the stage and
the stage last year. I should have looked at the figure,
but I think we were looking at about thirty three
this time last year.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yep. And I know it is. I mean, the thing is,
however many lives lost, it is, we still do not
want it to happen. And that's somebody's family member, that
somebody's loved on, that's someone who's been in their footy team.
You know, it's a it's a it's a valued person
in the community. And it's such a sad, sad, you know,
way to lose a loved one as well. It's such
(09:11):
a sudden and tragic thing to have happened. And I
don't know how we make it, how we how we
try to lower the rate of death that we are
seeing on our roads. I know there's a lot that
the police do, but if there's different ways that we
in the media can help as well, because something's got to.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Change, Yes, definitely, and we are trying to put as
much out there on the media as we possibly can.
We the as the police on our step were stepping
up our presence on the on the roads because these
figures speak for themselves. So we've had extra resourcing allocated
to our traffic will command and for those that live
(09:49):
in the in the city set were centers, I'm pretty
sure you would have seen an increased prootal presence on
the road in the last few few months. Our traffic
guys and girls are out there there were working really
hard day or night we've got increased ibts. You're going
to see us. It's a fair warning for everyone. You're
going to see us out there for the Christmas people period.
(10:11):
We've got a special operation going for the Christmas Track
with traffic and yet we just want to get that
message out there. Whether you're a driver, whether it's your fault,
whether it's not your fault, whether you're a pedestrian, you
need to walk or drive to the conditions. You need
to feel safe behind the wheel, you need to feel
(10:32):
safe if you're walking on the road, and if you
don't adjust the way that you're using the road.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Well, Detective seeingor Sergeant Richard Musgrave from the Major Crash
Investigation Unit, I really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks
so much for joining me.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Thank you
Now we know the Northern Territories road deaths have reached
a terrible high this year. As of well as I
understand it, there's been fifty three lives lost on Northern
Territory roads and the Major Crash Unit has now released
the statistics concerning the first of those fifty two deaths.
And the cause. Now joining me in the studio right
(00:22):
now is Detective seeing your sergeant Richard Musgrave. Good morning
to you, Richard.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Morning, Katie morning, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
For your time this morning. Now, Richard, the volume of
road deaths that we have seen this year has been
astronomical for all the wrong reasons. I understand that that
death toll has actually risen.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, unfortunately, as of this morning we were holding some
of the information back to allah of the family that
deceased to deal with it. But as of this morning,
unfortunately we are in our reporting fifty four deaths for
the year.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Fifty four deaths And was that so that was a
female who'd passed away?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, so Wednesday last week a female pedestrian stepped out
from entry on a bike path or a pedestrian path
and sadly, a youth who was riding down the road
just inadvertently or collided with her. She suffered unsurvivable injuries
(01:27):
and passed away as a result over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
How incredibly tragic for everybody involved in that situation is
there's no indication that that youth was doing anything wrong,
that person was just riding their bike.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
No, it's one of these really really sad circumstances where
no one did anything wrong, and it's just a series
of unfortunate mishaps just jelt to will together to result
in this tragic circumstance.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Oh goodness, may I mean, my heart goes out to
everybody involved in that city situation. That sounds incredibly like
a terrible situation for everybody involved. And I guess the
rarity in that situation, though, Richard, is that a lot
of the time, you know, unfortunately in that situation it
wasn't avoidable. But a lot of the time, a lot
(02:17):
of these road deaths actually are avoidable. And I know
that you have indeed released some of the reasons or
some of the contributing factors I should say, in relation
to those deaths.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yes, kay, oll Katie. So we're trying to get the
message out there to anyone who uses the road we
don't want to focus on drivers. It's everybody who is
on the road and is using the road. That can
be the drivers, it can be pedestrians, it can be cyclists,
passengers in a vehicle. Everybody has a responsibility to use
(02:52):
that road in a safe metal manner, not only for
themselves or their own families, but for other people too.
The stats that we've released, we're focusing on what has
colloquially we've been termed the fatal five, which are the
main five reasons that culminate in these fatal accidents, and
(03:13):
that's alcohol or drugs, speed, seat belts, in attention, or fatigue.
And the stats that we've released show that, sadly here
in the NTY, out of fifty four desks this year
or lives lost on the road this year, we're looking
at seventy percent of those are related to drugs or
(03:33):
alkohol on the road, which just blows my mind.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It blows mine too, like I can't believe that people
still get behind the wheel of a vehicle while they're
either intoxicated or impacted by drugs. And for me, I
sort of go back to it's one thing to put
your own life in danger, but to put the lives
of others that are on the road in danger as well,
or those in your own vehicle as well, I just
find quite astounding.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And that's exactly right. It's a decision that we all
make if we do climb behind the wheel or we
walk on the road while intoxicated. Because don't forget that
if out of those seventy percent of those fifty four deaths,
thirteen of those can be attributed to pedestrian deaths, and
out of eighty five percent of those thirteen pedestrian deaths,
(04:20):
alcohol and drugs are going are involved. And that goes
back to my core metal messaging. It doesn't matter whether
you're a driver or whether you're walking on the road.
If you're affected by alcohol and you stand a really
good chance of causing a fatal or collision, that's you,
that's your family, that's the other people's lives affected forever.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, that was what I was going to ask in
terms of those pedestrian deaths. And when you say that
alcohol is a contributing factor, is that both by drivers
but also the pedestrian.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
That's right, Yeah, so that's all that's seventy percent figures
am algamated with pedestrians and drivers.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It must be. I mean, there's so there's so many
things that are concerning about these statistics. But when you
look at the drugs and alcohol, what does that say
to you? When I mean you are somebody, you and
your team have to go out to these terrible fatalities
and you then have to, I'm assuming, speak to the
families of people who have who've lost love once.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
That's right, Katie. I mean, obviously, my team and I
have to deal with the mess and the trauma left
on the road by these incidents. But what a lot
of people don't realize is we have to also deal
with the affected people's or families, which takes its toll
on the team more than just as much as having
(05:49):
to deal with the trauma on the on the road.
You know, when we look at these figures, and again,
unfortunately we're focusing on alcohol and drugs because it's by
far the greatest cause of our fatalities or lives lost
on the road, But we mustn't forget about speed and
(06:09):
seat belts, which again the figures are way too high.
That's you know, thirty three percent of our fatal crashes
are caused by speed and seventeen percent of people not
wearing their seat belts. We've got to look at that alcohol.
We know that it's that al correlated harm is a
huge set of social issue in the Northern territory that
(06:32):
impacts everybody, not only the drivers, but it folters through
to all sorts of other incidents.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, and look, just having a close look as well
at some of these further detail, Le's understand it. Men
made up sixty seven percent of those of the deaths.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yes, that's right. And I think if you look at
the other incidental stats of male female, how many occur
at night, the people that are involved, it just goes
to it builds you a picture of who is using
the road and in what.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Capacity, and the other part of that. From what I
can see that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have also
dominated those numbers by the look of it, fifty eight
percent of those who died being First Nations people.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes, that is a very sad reality that these stats
show that a lot of work needs to be done
in that in that realm, and the police, together with DIPPLE,
together with MACCA and a range of other non government
and government organizations are working quite actively in that space.
(07:46):
We're trying to address ways of getting the messaging out
there using media, using personal visits, because obviously some of
the areas that we get to media isn't a big
thing out there. So we're working with community leaders and elders.
As I said, a number of these government agencies or
(08:07):
non government agencies are releasing media campaigns but were spoken
in different languages. And we're trying to get that messaging
out there as much as we possibly can.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And this is the thing we've got to try and
do something, got to try and do. I don't know
what the answer is. I don't know how we do
things slightly differently or how we get that message through.
But the number of lives lost is terrible. It is
much higher than last year as well as Nash, Yes.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Sir, I mean at this time we're sitting at fifty
four lives lost on the road at the stage and
the stage last year. I should have looked at the figure,
but I think we were looking at about thirty three
this time last year.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yep. And I know it is. I mean, the thing is,
however many lives lost, it is, we still do not
want it to happen. And that's somebody's family member, that
somebody's loved on, that's someone who's been in their footy team.
You know, it's a it's a it's a valued person
in the community. And it's such a sad, sad, you know,
way to lose a loved one as well. It's such
(09:11):
a sudden and tragic thing to have happened. And I
don't know how we make it, how we how we
try to lower the rate of death that we are
seeing on our roads. I know there's a lot that
the police do, but if there's different ways that we
in the media can help as well, because something's got to.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Change, Yes, definitely, and we are trying to put as
much out there on the media as we possibly can.
We the as the police on our step were stepping
up our presence on the on the roads because these
figures speak for themselves. So we've had extra resourcing allocated
to our traffic will command and for those that live
(09:49):
in the in the city set were centers, I'm pretty
sure you would have seen an increased prootal presence on
the road in the last few few months. Our traffic
guys and girls are out there there were working really
hard day or night we've got increased ibts. You're going
to see us. It's a fair warning for everyone. You're
going to see us out there for the Christmas people period.
(10:11):
We've got a special operation going for the Christmas Track
with traffic and yet we just want to get that
message out there. Whether you're a driver, whether it's your fault,
whether it's not your fault, whether you're a pedestrian, you
need to walk or drive to the conditions. You need
to feel safe behind the wheel, you need to feel
(10:32):
safe if you're walking on the road, and if you
don't adjust the way that you're using the road.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Well, Detective seeingor Sergeant Richard Musgrave from the Major Crash
Investigation Unit, I really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks
so much for joining me.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Thank you
Popular Podcasts
Good Game with Sarah Spain
Good Game is your one-stop shop for the biggest stories in women’s sports. Every day, host Sarah Spain gives you the stories, stakes, stars and stats to keep up with your favorite women’s teams, leagues and athletes. Through thoughtful insight, witty banter, and an all around good time, Sarah and friends break down the latest news, talk about the games you can’t miss, and debate the issues of the day. Don’t miss interviews with the people of the moment, whether they be athletes, coaches, reporters, or celebrity fans.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.