In February 2012, 23-year-old Sarah Frazer was on her way to begin University when her car broke down. After pulling into the emergency breakdown lane, Sarah called for assistance.
As a tow-truck driver was hooking up her car, a truck side-swiped the broken-down car and collided with the pair, killing them both instantly.
Although the driver was found guilty of dangerous driving, the road was also at fault by not meeting the standards required to allow sufficient room to pull off the road safely. Had the breakdown lane been made to the Austroads standard, Sarah and the tow-truck driver would not have been left in the line of high speed traffic.
Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group was set up by Sarah’s father Peter Frazer to ensure more lives are not lost through preventable and clearly foreseeable situations like the one that took Sarah’s life.
Peter Frazer will be part of a panel of experts presenting at the National Local Roads and Transport Congress, which will be held from 20-22 November in Alice Springs.
The panel will address road safety and assert that everyone involved in the management of the road transport system has a key role to play in ensuring our roads are safe.
Registration to the Congress is now open; register before 12 October to get the early bird rate.