Seniors on the Tablelands get a road rules refresher
Officers from the Mareeba Road Policing Unit spoke to a Mareeba Seniors group today and provided a road rules refresher for the 15 attendees.
Some of the attendees were interested to know more about reporting medical conditions to the Department of Transport and Main Road (TMR) and Constable Daniel Hemmings was able to give them some extra details.
Did you know that regardless of your age, if you have a medical condition that is likely to adversely affect your ability to drive safely, you must notify TMR?
Some of the more common medical conditions that are likely to affect your ability to drive safely include but are not limited to:
- blackouts
- diabetes
- eye or vision problems
- heart disease
- neurological – dementia, stroke, seizures or epilepsy psychiatric disorders sleep disorders alcohol or drug dependency.
If you have a permanent or long-term medical condition, you may receive a maximum court-imposed fine of more than $7,500 and your driver licence may be cancelled if you don’t notify TMR and you have a traffic crash.
For more information click here.
Did you know that you don’t have to report all traffic crashes to police any more?
If you are involved in a traffic crash you only need to report it to Police if someone is injured, you suspect that alcohol or drugs are involved or a driver fails or refuses to provide their required details (name, address, vehicle owners details, vehicle registration or any other information to identify the vehicle, if needed).
Police should be contacted via Policelink on 131444 if they are required for traffic control, the crash resulted from hooning or dangerous operation of a motor vehicle or there is significant damage to public infrastructure.
For more information click here.
Did you know about the law about passing bicycle riders?
The last topic that Constable Hemmings touched on was law in relation to motorists passing bicycle riders.
Motorists must remember to stay wide of bicycle riders by giving a minimum of: 1m when passing a bicycle rider in a 60km/h or less speed zone or 1.5m where the speed limit is over 60km/h.
Passing a bicycle rider means that you (as a motorist) and the bicycle rider are travelling in the same direction. This includes when you are travelling side-by-side in separate lanes on a multi-lane road. It does not apply if you are travelling in opposite directions.
The passing distance is measured from:
The rightmost part of the bicycle, or the person on the bicycle to The leftmost part of the vehicle, or something sticking out from the vehicle (e.g. a side mirror).
The minimum passing distance applies even if the bicycle rider is riding around an obstacle.
These road rules apply to all motor vehicles—including cars, motorcycles, heavy vehicles and public transport vehicles.
For more information click here.
Remember if you are involved in a traffic crash and someone is injured call Triple Zero if not but Police are still needed contact Policelink on 131444.
Source: Cairns Crime Alert
