Don’t drink and dive…

Senior Constable Mick Emery

They say a picture can be worth a thousand words, and this photo from last year is no exception. There are numerous metaphors that could be drawn from the photo about someone’s world being ‘turned upside down’ (which, let’s be honest, is something we can all relate to with respect to 2020…!)

Where the metaphor starts to break down is when it comes to the causes of our respective turmoil: for most of us, the trauma of 2020 was something well beyond our control – as opposed to the above rollover, which can be attributed to alcohol-induced ‘pilot error’.

If only there was a way of putting drivers like this into some sort of ‘quarantine’ – because this sort of behaviour killed way more people than COVID last year. Think about the efforts we’ve all gone to in containing coronavirus – yet the far deadlier pandemic of road trauma keeps spreading (and yet is equally something we can all help to prevent).

Interestingly, one thing you can’t see in the photo is any vehicle tracks leading into the water (which may have provided the telltale signs of hooning prior to the crash). In this case, the rise and fall of the tide has erased any evidence of the events leading up to the crash – events which are probably best left in the past anyway.

Perhaps the tidal erosion of these tracks can provide another point of reflection as we begin 2021 – and leave 2020 behind us.

Here’s to a happy, safe and contemplative new year.