Part of a worldwide initiative, Fatality Free Friday aims to get drivers to reflect on their road use for just one day and have an entire Friday without a road fatality.

Last year saw the highest ever road toll figure for WA, with 236 deaths on our roads.

A large proportion of these deaths occurred on country roads, making it more important than ever for country drivers to drive safe and arrive alive.

To date this year, 72 lives have been lost – 42 of them on country roads – and although this figure is lower than last year’s state-wide figure of 91, Crime prevention and diversity officer Senior Constable Murray Pownall believes that now is not the time to become complacent on the roads.

“There’s a tendency for people to think that they’re in the country and that it won’t happen to them,” he said.

“There may not be a large volume of traffic but country drivers travel at higher speeds for a longer period of time, putting them in a high risk category.

“Now more than ever drivers need to slow down and pay attention.”

To coincide with the drive safe initiative, Snr Cnst Pownall and Department of Planning and Infrastructure regional services assistant Graham Mitchell will be monitoring Esperance drivers in the near future and instructing them on correct indication on roundabouts and key factors in road safety including wearing seatbelts.

Adults, children and even companies are invited to promise to use roads safely this Friday by signing a pledge on the Fatality Free Friday website www.fatalityfreefriday.com