By Callum Ludwig
An important intervention for young drivers was held on Wednesday 6 December, aiming to make a lasting impact on the thoughts of the next generations of motorists.
After four years, the Yarra Valley Teenage Road Information Program (TRIP) returned to help encourage young drivers to think about their behaviour before they get behind the wheel.
Ambulance Victoria’s Yarra Ranges senior team manager and Lilydale SES Unit Controller Shaun Caulfield said there was a high level of attention to the message within the room.
“The program talks about physical injury, we talk about the road toll and the fact that the road toll is unacceptably high and it’s high in this local area, but it’s not just people dying on the roads that are the only outcomes that come out of poor choices,” he said.
“It was interesting looking around the room and seeing that a lot of the young pre-drivers, those who are probably on their Ls, were also taking in the information highly attentively and listening to the message,”
“Hopefully it gets through to many people, but if it even gets through to just one person then we’ve achieved our goal.”
As of midnight 7 December, there have been 275 lives lost on Victorian roads this year, up 19.6 per cent from 2022.
Mr Caulfield said it’s really important for programs like TRIP to be available on a regular basis so young drivers can hear the message from other places that aren’t just mum and dad.
“To hear it from us as first responders, to hear people with lived experience of road trauma, whether it be someone who survived a crash or whether it be the family members of people who’ve died in a road crash, it’s incredibly important,” he said.
“It has a much greater impact if we stop the behaviours that cause the crashes in the first place, rather than just trying to limit the damage afterwards, and we want people to speak up when their friends are doing silly things in cars,”
“Whether it’s drink-driving or speeding or they’re on their phone, we want their peers when they’re in the car to say something and speak up that that behaviour is not acceptable.”
About 210 attendees were at the event, held at Heritage Funerals in Woori Yallock.
Zac Jones also spoke at the event, telling attendees the story of his crash which seriously injured all the passengers in the car and resulted in him going to jail.
Mr Jones said by the time he was 18 and had gotten his P plates, all of his reckless behaviour and negative habits got in the car with him.
“Between the ages of 13 and 18, I developed very bad substance abuse issues. I was hanging out with all the wrong people, got in trouble with the police, was expelled from eight schools and from the first time I got behind the wheel as a P-plater I was driving recklessly,” he said.
“The longer I got away with it, the more reckless I became. I wrote my first car off not long after getting it but it all culminated in me crashing my car drink-driving with four passengers in 2017.”
As a result of the crash, after hurtling through a red light while drunk, high and on a suspended license at 140km/h in Vermont, Mr Jones was sentenced to four years and nine months imprisonment in the County Court. Aged only 22 at the time of sentencing, Mr Jones served two and a half years and is out on parole currently.
Mr Jones said the thought of potentially stopping other young drivers making the same mistake he did was the reason he now does what he does.
“Being so acutely aware of the roll-on effect and how many people are affected by road trauma, it certainly helps me sleep at night knowing that I can take the horrible thing that I did and use it to prevent it from happening again,” he said.
“I saw counsellors while in jail and they really helped me, and by the time I got out, I was just really itching to give back and I believed that I could make some change.”
In his 2017 crash, Mr Jones suffered only minor injuries. His front seat passenger suffered serious injuries and was trapped for a time while the other passengers had severe injuries. They all survived.
Mr Jones, with his mother Jane, have gone on to write a book together called Why The Fallen?. It tells of Mr Jones’ story, the crash, his reconnection with family and his determination to do right.
Mr Jones encouraged any community groups, schools, sporting clubs or other organisations who would like him to share his story with them to reach out to him on Facebook at Zac Jones or Why the Fallen?, on Instagram at ‘ZacJonesPHNX’ or via email infowhythefallen@gmail.com
