***WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS TRIGGERS AND CAN CAUSE DISTRESS*** This was an article from 2011 from the late Sergeant ATKINS of Victoria Police. He was a kind, dedicated and passionate family man and police officer. Road safety was very important to him as it is with all our officers. We would like to continue his legacy and spread his important message on road safety.There is no sugar coating, this is reality... Gate to heartache My name is Nigel John Atkins, and I am the commander of the Cardinia Highway Patrol, based at the Pakenham Police Station. My road policing team covers the entire Cardinia Police Service Area. My team has a zero tolerance/equal opportunity policy, for road policing enforcement, to assist the community towards the reduction of road trauma – saving lives and keeping people safe. I have been a frontline policeman for 33 years – 17 years in the general duties arena and the other 16 years to date, in the frontline of the traffic enforcement field. I am fully qualified in my expertise and with the human gates I possess, to carry out my functions as a policeman, because … I’ve been there. I’ve attended countless fatalities and serious injuries where my four human gates have been acutely activated. My eyes gate. Attending serious road trauma to see limbs ripped from bodies, brain matter splattered upon windscreens, blood and entrails leaking … I’ve been there. The ears gate. Hearing the screams of pain and despair of souls in crushed motor vehicles and the screams of parents and widows when the death delivery is given at the door in early hours. I’ve been there. The smell gate. The smell of a person’s insides on the outside, on the roadway or in the footwell of the crushed motor vehicle. I’ve been there. And the most human of all, The touch gate. To hold onto the warm hand of an individual, approaching death, reassuring that soul , that all will be OK and then to feel their pulse fade away from the living. I’ve most definitely been there. I’m fully qualified to handle the task with my gates and accept it as my police duty role. People ask me all the time, how do you cope with this job and why do you stay … why are you so passionate and serious? My retort … I have a great responsibility to public safety. I’m qualified for the job … because I gave an oath 33 years ago …There’s too much unfinished business, I say! But what I wrestle with, is knowing that all motor vehicle injuries are in fact, preventable. On 15 April, 1912, at 2.20am the RMS Titanic sank, having collided with an iceberg. The person in control of this vessel at that time was Captain Edward Smith. The mighty ship was presumed indestructible and also unsinkable. There were 2223 people on board. Some 1500 souls met their early demise that night. Why? Because of speed. The captain should not have been speeding. He was in fact, coaxed by others to increase his safe speed. As a result of 1500 lives lost, this had a ripple effect on many more lives. Notwithstanding the vessel was built at a cost back then of $7.5 million. Today’s equivalent, estimated at $463 million, now sitting at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean with 1500 souls lost. The tragic part of this bit of history is, it was all preventable! It occurred due to speed and is relevant to today! If the vessel was not speeding, it would not have collided into the iceberg. It hit harder than it should have. There is a concept that is sometimes hard to understand or accept until you think about it for a while. “All collisions are preventable.” A quote from the National Safety Council.It is preventable by the simple shift in community attitudes, when we all apply ourselves to the roadways when we are in charge of our motor vehicles. The faster you travel, the bigger the bang. My message to you all, is for you to comprehend fully, a personal focus towards a fresh safety vision of serious injury reduction for Cardinia roads. We need to all be united in this vision as members of the community. It is truly a team effort. It is just not up to the police. There is tremendous power in community unity. For this vision to succeed, into 2012 and beyond, is all based upon we, not me. I entrust that this road safety message towards keeping the road toll down, will steer your community thoughts towards a consideration of a united front in implementing a team focus, against the persistent pestilence of the low-level speed culture driving. Words and statistics may define, examine, and emphasise, but without community actions behind them, they are totally merit-less. Low speed laws, in an example, are basically useless, unless there is some means of compliance towards the road rules effectively. The real question is, do we continue on, with our public lassitude attitude of acceptance to small speeds on our public highways, or do we implement the most appropriate action, as a community to remedy this chronic speed epidemic causing injuries on our roads. Keep very much in mind, we all use the highways along with our loved ones. The quality of our actions, is the true measure essential for the foundation towards driving excellence and achieving lower road trauma for Cardinia. I leave you all with serious consideration towards this achievable vision but before I conclude this message for all you road users, let me say this clearly. ‘Reduction of Road Trauma doesnt come by chance. It reduces by change.’ Our roads are becoming ever-increasingly congested. It’s not about the changes, it’s about how you as a community, a collection of individuals, react to these changes, accept these changes and understand, things change for a reason, and usually it’s for the greater better. Please, “Keep safe out there”. N. J. Atkins Sergeant in Charge Cardinia Highway Patrol (Strength and Honour) May our hero Rest In Peace. Love and strength to his family, friends and colleagues. ~pakenham.starcommunity.au/gazette/2011-11-30/gate-to-heartache/
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 03:13:02 +0000
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