8/2/2019 RACV Transport Quill - Entrant's Statement

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QUILL AWARDS 2011

RACV Transport Quill_________________________________________________________

STEPHEN DRILL and AMELIA HARRIS

Speed cheats

Dangerous drivers will be taken off Victorian roads in their thousands as a resultof an exclusive Herald Sun report into the rorting of a legal loophole.Speed cheats forced the Baillieu government to commit to clamping down on

the 50,000 instances of drivers dodging demerit points each year.Transport Minister Terry Mulder will introduce new amendments to the RoadSafety Act this year.He made the decision to close the loophole after he was alerted to the problem bythe Herald Sun.The new law is a significant win for public safety, with Mr Mulder putting livesahead of the $112 million in revenue netted from the extra fines attached to theloophole.It will help reduce the road toll by forcing drivers to take the points attached to

speeding and red light fines and losing their licences as a result.The move will also mean that drivers who are close to losing their licence maychange their driving behaviour to avoid more demerit points.Under the current system motorists, particularly truck and taxi drivers, are ableto speed with impunity.The story was significant because it highlighted a hidden issue that may becontributing to deaths on our roads and was even more powerful because it randuring the all important Christmas road toll period.It is impossible to quantify how many lives this new law may save because therewere no records kept on drivers who used the legal loophole.The story uncovered a major missed opportunity to make Victorian roads safer.Despite the millions spent on TAC campaigns and countless hours of policework, the State Government had overlooked this danger.The impact of our page-one exclusive was far reaching. It dominated that daystalkback radio agenda and was on every television news bulletin that night. Journalists Stephen Drill and Amelia Harris worked together to uncover the rort,which was being used in staggering numbers.

8/2/2019 RACV Transport Quill - Entrant's Statement

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Mr Drill, a former transport reporter on the Sunday Herald Sun, sparked theinvestigation following a tip off from a transport industry source.Ms Harris used her police sources to dig deeper into the scandal, confirming thewidespread nature of the problem.Victoria Police released details of the number of people using the $717 failure tonotify a driver fines after questioning from Mr Drill.