Caleb Runciman: Five deaths and the dangerous driving we need to talk about after horror Easter on WA roads

Tell me one good reason why tailgating another driver as you speed 20km/h over the limit is warranted — besides trying to boost your own ego.

Idiots behind the wheel turned my relaxing Easter long weekend drive down south into a dangerous exercise packed with careless drivers and the wreckage of two four-wheel drives involved in a head-on collision.

From Perth to Busselton and back, it was one of the poorest displays of driving I have ever encountered.

In a threatening combination of P-plater hoons and distracted drivers, I witnessed countless incidents of dangerous tailgating, overtaking and cars swerving over lane markings.

The round-trip came amid five tragic deaths in WA over the Easter period.

It started with three people dying on Thursday afternoon.

The first was promising motocross rider Jaxxon Brinkworth, 14, whose dirt bike collided with a Ford utility on Albany Highway. Just minutes later, a 30-year-old man was killed in Jarrahdale after crashing his motorbike. Hours later, an 18-year-old woman died after being thrown from a car that rolled on mudflats near Derby. The 19-year-old driver was later charged over her death.

A 35-year-old man died on Monday after the car he was a passenger in slammed into a tree in Como on Easter Sunday. The driver was seriously injured and police are investigating whether speed was a factor.

On Tuesday, first responders were paying tribute to an 11-year-old boy who died after riding a push-scooter down a steep driveway at holiday apartments in Mandurah, directly into the path of oncoming traffic.

And in a shocking near-miss captured on dash-cam, truck driver Andrew Cox filmed a white car attempting to overtake a road train by crossing a continuous double white line — an illegal act — about 20km west of Esperance. Mr Cox said he was travelling at 98km/h and had to brake suddenly to avoid a collision.

Amid the carnage on Perth metro and regional WA roads, my Easter journey started in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Perth and continued down the Wilman-Wadandi Highway.

What stood out most was how reckless some members of WA’s four-wheel drive community had become.

As a member of that community, I understand the pleasures of driving a big car — the ability to take it off-road, the commanding view above every hatchback. It’s satisfying. But that doesn’t mean you have a free pass to break the law.

Before this trip, I made it very clear to my friends and family that I hate tailgating. And unsurprisingly, it took only minutes after hitting the road to witness a case in point. A big four-wheel drive speeding up the rear of a much smaller car — leaving the driver less than a metre of breathing room — before forcing them into the left-hand lane and wedging them between other drivers who hesitantly allowed the merge.

The idea that it’s acceptable to breach the speed limit while tailgating in your big car is both stupid and dangerous. And for those who need a reminder: it’s illegal to speed, even when overtaking.

Nobody cares about your lifted Nissan Patrol. Nobody cares about the diesel fumes pumping from your exhaust as you floor it. If you believe another driver is incompetent, take a deep breath and put on some classical music.

After making it to Busselton in one piece, I planned a day-trip to Dunsborough in which I missed being involved in a serious head-on collision by minutes.

A white Ford Everest travelling towards Busselton collided with a white Ford Ranger heading in the opposite direction. The impact on Caves Road caused extensive damage to the driver’s side of both vehicles and sent four people to hospital.

While others in my travelling party were breathalysed or drug tested by police, I didn’t encounter any officers — despite police estimating they stopped 10 per cent more drivers this Easter within a 400km radius of Perth compared to last year.

WA Police say community presence is key to enforcing laws and protecting road users from dangerous behaviour. But the responsibility for reducing our road toll must ultimately fall on drivers.

Despite pleas to drive safely at the start of the Easter break, the messaging is clearly either being ignored or not getting through — five families have been left to grieve.

Sadly, I believe nothing will truly influence bad drivers until someone they know has been killed or seriously injured.

In the interim, for everyone who has blamed reduced speed limits on routes such as Indian Ocean Drive for causing crashes: remind yourself why speed limits exist. Speed kills.

Amid debate about improving road safety messaging, Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner was unavailable for an interview but provided a written statement.

He said the “fatal five” factors — alcohol, drugs, seatbelts and helmets, speed and fatigue — continue to be ignored by too many drivers.

“Our warnings about the fatal five continue to fall into the ‘it can’t happen to me’ category,” he said.

“But in reality, these dangerous driving behaviours, all of them preventable, lead to deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

“We can’t enforce our way to zero and we can’t engineer our roads to zero but we will continue to educate how drivers and road users can change their behaviour.

“Reducing your speed, removing distractions, saying no to drugs and alcohol, wearing seatbelts and helmets and avoiding fatigue are real and actionable ways to save lives.”

Road Trauma Support: 1300 004 814