Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Sergeant Mark Bennett about road safety in the Territory over the Christmas period

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Katie spoke with Sergeant Mark Bennett about road safety in the Territory over the Christmas period · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio right now is the
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  Speaker 1: acting Senior Sergeant of Road Policing with the Northern Territory Police,
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  Speaker 1: Tiny Bennett. Good morning to you, Tiny morning Tony. It's
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  Speaker 1: a busy time of the year, we know that, but
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  Speaker 1: particularly for our police and you will be out there
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  Speaker 1: on the roads over the Christmas period making sure that
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  Speaker 1: people are not getting behind the wheel, drinking or taking drugs.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's right. Like every year, our key focus over
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  Speaker 2: the Christmas holiday period and through into the new year
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  Speaker 2: is making sure that people are safe on our roads,
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  Speaker 2: that they can get from A to B and that
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  Speaker 2: they're not going to have any issue from people who
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  Speaker 2: are possibly under the weather, a wee bit, through drugs,
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  Speaker 2: alcohol or for other reasons. So you will see police
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  Speaker 2: out there. You will see them conducting random breath testing
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  Speaker 2: and drug testing stations. Don't be surprised if you get
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  Speaker 2: stopped and pulled over, we won't hold you up for
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  Speaker 2: long hopefully. Well, we just want to make sure people
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  Speaker 2: are safe, they get out there and actually enjoy themselves.
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  Speaker 1: People deserve it absolutely and if you're doing the right thing,
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  Speaker 1: you need to worry about the police being out on
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  Speaker 1: the roads or pulling you over for a you know,
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  Speaker 1: for a quick breath test or a quick drug test.
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  Speaker 1: But if you're doing the wrong thing, well you put
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  Speaker 1: on notice right now the police are going to be
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  Speaker 1: out there in full force and ready to catch it.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. And the other side of the coin is
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  Speaker 2: if you're planning to go out and have a few
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  Speaker 2: beers or a few wines or whatnot, which is fine,
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  Speaker 2: plan ahead, organize your sober bob, make sure that you
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  Speaker 2: know or have a few dollars in your pocket for
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  Speaker 2: a taxi. Make sure that you can get home safe.
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  Speaker 2: That's the biggest thing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, And are there going to be sort of specific
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  Speaker 1: road operations or does it really just fall under we're
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  Speaker 1: out We're going to be everywhere over Christmas.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not going to say where we're going to be. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we'll be out there on the roads.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, which I think is fair enough. People just need
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  Speaker 1: to be prepared for that. And look, it hasn't been
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  Speaker 1: a great year on the roads. We still see Territorians
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  Speaker 1: losing their lives on our roads. We still see people
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  Speaker 1: getting seriously injured in road crashes, and nobody wants to
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  Speaker 1: be dealing with that over the Christmas and the festive season.
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  Speaker 2: All emergency services, fire's, bambos and the police. We don't
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  Speaker 2: need to see these lists occur in the really good
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  Speaker 2: fist of season, so we just keep pushing that message.
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  Speaker 2: Get out there, enjoy yourselves again. You deserve it. Just
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  Speaker 2: plan ahead.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey. The other thing, tony is obviously the weather.
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  Speaker 1: We've seen some significant weather over the last few days,
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  Speaker 1: like even yesterday afternoon that massive storm, and I think
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  Speaker 1: Monday the other one was and we are expecting more
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  Speaker 1: wet weather on the way. A timely reminder to you know,
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  Speaker 1: to make sure that you're doing the right thing on
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  Speaker 1: the roads when it comes to the weather as well.
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  Speaker 2: Definitely, I love the rain storms up here in the NTA.
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  Speaker 2: It's marvelous. However, as far as it comes to driving
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  Speaker 2: on our roads, we've got to make sure our vehicle's
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  Speaker 2: up to scratch, good tires, good windscreen, wipers, turn your
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  Speaker 2: lights on so people can see you. But the biggest
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  Speaker 2: thing is following distances when it's raining, pull back that
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  Speaker 2: little bit more. The reason being is that when something
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  Speaker 2: goes wrong and you have to slam on the anchors
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  Speaker 2: to dodge the car in front or whatever it is,
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  Speaker 2: it takes longer to stop, so let's give that distance
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  Speaker 2: so we've got that time period.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I suppose some people might be looking to
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  Speaker 1: embark on some longer trips at this time of the
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  Speaker 1: year as well, going away or you know, heading out
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  Speaker 1: to Kakadoo and things like that, maybe even traveling into state.
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  Speaker 1: And that reminder about you know, making sure that your
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  Speaker 1: vehicle's up to scratch is a really timely one if
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  Speaker 1: you are planning a big road trip too, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. And I'll also add of those people who are traveling,
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  Speaker 2: fatigue is a big danger point on our roads. Inti's marvelous,
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  Speaker 2: but you can drive for five six hours at a time,
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  Speaker 2: and we really encourage people not to make those short stops,
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  Speaker 2: to get out of the car, walk around, have a breather,
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  Speaker 2: stretch the muscles, cup of tea cup of coffee is nice,
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  Speaker 2: and then to carry on their trip.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Tiny, It is always good to up with you,
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  Speaker 1: and I know that the police are going to be
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  Speaker 1: working really hard over the festive season. I hope that
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  Speaker 1: you and the rest of the road safety crew have
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  Speaker 1: a great Christmas and that people stay safe and do
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  Speaker 1: the right thing on our roads.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. Eddie, Merry Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you,