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Katie Woolf spoke with Acting Super Intendent John Ginnane about road safety in Darwin · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is the acting Superintendent
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of the Palmerston Road Policing John Ganaine.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: John, Good morning Katie.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Thanks having me, Thanks for joining us this morning. John.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: We always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I know that there's certainly been or there is
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  Speaker 1: always certainly happening on our roads. Really sadly though, we
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  Speaker 1: did see a fatality on Tuesday night, didn't we, involving
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  Speaker 1: a motorcycle.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. It's always a tragedy to lose life
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  Speaker 3: on our roads. That's twenty seven for the year, which
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  Speaker 3: is slightly up from this time last year. And look
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  Speaker 3: the major crash people are investigating that serious tragic incident.
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  Speaker 3: All we can say to the public is just look
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  Speaker 3: where you're going. Be cognizant that be cognizant that what
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  Speaker 3: you think is coming towards you at night time is
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  Speaker 3: what you think it is, and be aware that distance
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  Speaker 3: judgment can be a problem when the sun's gone down.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, my heart goes out to I'm
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  Speaker 1: sure yours does as well, the family of that young
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  Speaker 1: person whose life has been lost. I know that it's
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  Speaker 1: an incredibly difficult time and it's also you know, just
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  Speaker 1: a reminder I think as well that when a life
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  Speaker 1: is lost on the road, it is such a sudden thing,
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  Speaker 1: and the ramifications and you know, the impacts all throughout
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  Speaker 1: the community have felt so broadly.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's right, Katie, and it's the butterfly effect, as
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  Speaker 3: they say, and it's red large because you have a
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  Speaker 3: young man who's now not going to see another Christmas.
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  Speaker 3: He's not going to have children, he won't watch those
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  Speaker 3: children grow up, His family won't see him become married
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  Speaker 3: or have families of his own. There are employers who
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  Speaker 3: have lost a colleague, there are sporting groups that have
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  Speaker 3: lost a teammate, and it just goes on and on,
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  Speaker 3: and every time we lose a life in their roads,
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  Speaker 3: this effect happens, and it's devastating across small, tight knit
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  Speaker 3: communities that are typical of the ones we have in
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're so right, John.
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  Speaker 1: How have things been going on our roads over the
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  Speaker 1: holiday period? I know that you and I caught up
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  Speaker 1: just before the holidays commenced and had a bit of
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  Speaker 1: a reminder to all of our listeners about some of
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  Speaker 1: the different things that they need to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: they do to prepare if they're going on a longer trip.
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  Speaker 2: How have things been well?
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  Speaker 3: I remember I had a couple of weeks ago, Cartie,
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  Speaker 3: and I'm not sure if the message had the desired
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  Speaker 3: effect that it might have because we didn't. We haven't
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  Speaker 3: had a preponderance of collisions or incidents involving things like
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  Speaker 3: caravans and camp evans and all those other things we
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  Speaker 3: talked about, And with the exception of the tragedy that
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  Speaker 3: happened out at noon tomorrow on Tuesday, in terms of
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  Speaker 3: collisions and so on, it's actually been quite encouraging. So
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  Speaker 3: hopefully this good drive behavior when it comes to holiday
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  Speaker 3: periods extends throughout the Christmas period and threw into Easter
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  Speaker 3: in the dry season next year.
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  Speaker 1: We can only hope, John, But I guess it's also
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  Speaker 1: a bit of a reminder for us, you know, to
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  Speaker 1: let people know that there are still some who aren't.
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  Speaker 2: Doing the right thing on our roads.
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  Speaker 1: What are some of the more serious offenses that you're
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  Speaker 1: seeing when you guys are out there policing us.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I've got a couple of things, Katie, since you
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  Speaker 3: asked yesterday, some of some of our traffic police noticed
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  Speaker 3: a car driving down Mitchell Street at about two o'clock
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  Speaker 3: Histay afternoon. Was no front number plate, so they pulled
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  Speaker 3: that vehicle over and they found a fifty seven year
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  Speaker 3: old fellow who appeared to be a bit wobbly on
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: his feet, so the appropriate tests were conducted. He was
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  Speaker 3: charged with high range drink driving at e Blue point
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  Speaker 3: one five eight at two o'clock in the afternoon, which
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  Speaker 3: I think we all agree is a fair effort and
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  Speaker 3: worthy of balls, perhaps except for the fact that he
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  Speaker 3: was driving a motive vehicle at the time.
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  Speaker 2: Ah, that is unbelievable. John.
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  Speaker 3: Now, this fellow also had a warrant for arrest that
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  Speaker 3: was previously issued by a court for previous traffic matters.
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  Speaker 3: So he's got an upcoming date with you, judiciary, and
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  Speaker 3: we'll see how that pans out. But our people and
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  Speaker 3: myself as well, are extremely pleased that that person was
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  Speaker 3: removed from the roads in the manner in which he was.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, spot on.
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  Speaker 1: You know, at the end of the days, everybody's out
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  Speaker 1: on the roads making sure that they're doing the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: But there's also plenty of people driving their children around
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  Speaker 1: around the city various other locations throughout the school holidays.
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  Speaker 1: Presumably the majority are doing the right thing, and then
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  Speaker 1: you've got somebody who is clearly not who's endangering everybody else.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, look, frankly, it's a standing to anyone who
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  Speaker 3: has an iotor of common sense. I mean, the city
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  Speaker 3: is full of pedestrians as it is, and people legitimately
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  Speaker 3: places like Mitchell Street and Smith Street and all those
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  Speaker 3: sort of places. And you add to that the amount
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  Speaker 3: of daycare centers and primary schools that are in the
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  Speaker 3: exact area this fellow is driving past when he was
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  Speaker 3: stopped and this menace removed by the traffic police. It
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  Speaker 3: just beggars belief, it really does.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, it's disgraceful. Good on the police for apprehending him
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  Speaker 1: as there much. What are some of the other sort
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  Speaker 1: of serious stuff that you've been.
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  Speaker 3: Seeing, Well, we found out this week as well. That
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  Speaker 3: or advice for perhaps the future for some if you're
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  Speaker 3: going to go and visit someone that you know who
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  Speaker 3: is in prison for drug related defending, if you're going
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  Speaker 3: to go and do that, please don't drive there under
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  Speaker 3: the influence of drugs or drunk, because that is exactly
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  Speaker 3: what we found on Tuesday when we conducted an operation
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  Speaker 3: in the vicinity of the Holtz Correctional Center. And out
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  Speaker 3: of a short sample of drivers that we checked, one
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  Speaker 3: was under the influence of a couple of different illicit drugs.
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  Speaker 3: And we found yet another person who decided to come
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  Speaker 3: in with a skinful and see what happened. And what
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  Speaker 3: happened was he got a date with the court.
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  Speaker 2: Goodness me.
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  Speaker 1: So, firstly, that one who had taken illicit drugs. Do
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  Speaker 1: you know what kind of drugs are in that person's system?
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  Speaker 3: Cannabis and methamphetamone the daily double, both of which obviously
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  Speaker 3: are dangerous in and of themselves. But when you combine
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  Speaker 3: the two together and you put someone who's affected by
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  Speaker 3: both those substances in charge of a motor vehicle is
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  Speaker 3: a recipe for disaster. And that person and I don't
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  Speaker 3: know what that person's history is, but depending on that person,
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  Speaker 3: depending on the history that person has, he or she
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  Speaker 3: may end up spending a little bit longer at the
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  Speaker 3: jail than they had originally intended there.
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  Speaker 2: I reckon John.
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  Speaker 1: Any idea of the age of that person who was
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  Speaker 1: on the daily.
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  Speaker 3: Double look mid thirties, I believe. But there'll be more
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  Speaker 3: coming out about that later.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, and a very timely reminder. I mean
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  Speaker 1: for everybody, no matter where you are, don't get behind
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  Speaker 1: the wheel if you've been drinking, and you know I
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  Speaker 1: don't get behind the wheel if you've been doing drugs.
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  Speaker 2: It's also a.
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  Speaker 1: Lot easier these days, isn't it for the police to
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  Speaker 1: actually test for drugs and for those illicit substances in
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  Speaker 1: people's systems.
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's right, Katie and Darwen at the very least,
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  Speaker 3: and we have new and improved drug testing equipment which
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  Speaker 3: doesn't take as long, It is very easy to handle,
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  Speaker 3: and it is much more accurate than the older systems
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  Speaker 3: that we did have. Not that they weren't accurate, they
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: just took a bit longer to deliver a result. The
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  Speaker 3: police in Greater Darwin area have that equipment now and
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  Speaker 3: are using it and it's about to be rolled out
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  Speaker 3: territory wide. So if you think you can spend the
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  Speaker 3: morning on the canes before going to work or play
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  Speaker 3: footy or whatever you're going to do, or get on
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  Speaker 3: the pipe, look, just forget about it, because it's very
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  Speaker 3: very easy to find your way into one of ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, John, is there a particular road offense that really
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  Speaker 1: gets under your skin more than anything else, or is
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  Speaker 1: it just all of them when people are doing the
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  Speaker 1: wrong thing.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, look, I think it's been said. I know this
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  Speaker 3: is a crowd favorite, but I'll say it anyway. It's
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  Speaker 3: going too slow on the right hand line. The right
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  Speaker 3: hand lane is for traffic that is moving marginally faster
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  Speaker 3: than traffic in the left hand lane. And this is
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  Speaker 3: about flow of traffic. It's about getting from one place
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  Speaker 3: safety safely to another. And it's actually dangerous if you're
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  Speaker 3: in the right hand lane and you are going saw
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  Speaker 3: ten fifteen kilometers below the limit. And if you think
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  Speaker 3: you're you're being extra super safe, you're actually not. You're
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  Speaker 3: creating a danger for every other road user.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's one of those things, isn't it. It does sort
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  Speaker 1: of tend to annoy people, and interesting to hear that
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  Speaker 1: it also annoys the police.
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  Speaker 3: Oh it is. There's a ticket for it. Yeah, guarantee
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  Speaker 3: it's an offense.
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  Speaker 2: Well, what else? I mean?
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  Speaker 1: I know that there are certainly some age groups that
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  Speaker 1: are our biggest defenders, or I'm.
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  Speaker 2: Assuming that there are.
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  Speaker 1: Is that the case, not just for that particular offense,
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  Speaker 1: but for everything.
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  Speaker 3: I'll look not real, not really your younger drivers. Your
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  Speaker 3: younger drivers are more liable to commit your lower end
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  Speaker 3: speeding offenses and do things like added things like giving
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  Speaker 3: way and traveling through amberlites right at the death before
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  Speaker 3: they turn read and all that sort of stuff. And
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  Speaker 3: that's possibly because the novelty of having a license and
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  Speaker 3: still being able to drive around a car on their
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  Speaker 3: own has yet to wear off and all that sort
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  Speaker 3: of stuff. But with the older demographic, and particularly what
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  Speaker 3: we find in the rural areas with medium range drink
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  Speaker 3: driving in particular is complacency. And people think that I've
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  Speaker 3: had a license for fifteen, twenty, twenty five to thirty years,
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  Speaker 3: I know what I'm doing, there's no cops here. I'll
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  Speaker 3: get by just as just the way I've always done.
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  Speaker 3: And invariably some of these people come in for a
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  Speaker 3: root shock.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I bet so, John.
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  Speaker 1: What are you asking the community to do today in
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  Speaker 1: terms of changing some of that behavior and doing the
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  Speaker 1: right thing on our roads.
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  Speaker 3: Look, it's about it's about not being selfish, That's pretty
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  Speaker 3: much it. Because as soon as you take to the
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  Speaker 3: road with a steering wheel in your hand, your actions
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  Speaker 3: have the ability to directly impact countless lives of other people.
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  Speaker 3: It's not just about you. It's not about you, it's
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  Speaker 3: about every other person on the road as soon as
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  Speaker 3: you enter it. I just ask people to just take
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  Speaker 3: that into account. You'll get there safely, You'll get there
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  Speaker 3: in one piece. Time is not a matter if you
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: lose two or three minutes. By driving safely and taking
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: into account what other people are doing on the raid,
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  Speaker 3: make eye contact with other drivers, introduce an element of
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  Speaker 3: personality into it. There's not just another car, there's another
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  Speaker 3: person behind that wheel. If people just do that from
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: time to time, or even better make a habit of it,
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  Speaker 3: I think we see in general terms a dramatic increase
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: and long behavior.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Well, John Ganaine, it is always good to catch up
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  Speaker 1: with you. I really appreciate your time. I know that
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: you and all of our traffic police will, all of
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: our Northern Territory police are incredibly busy. We appreciate you
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: taking the time to have a chat with us this.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Morning, anytime, Katie. Thank you,