Loss aims to save lives

By Tania Martin
TECOMA couple Liz and Peter Hall opened their hearts last week to share the grief of losing their two sons in a high-speed accident.
The Halls are one of 10 families who have taken part in a heart wrenching TAC advertising campaign which looks at how speeding can tear families apart.
TAC Minister Tim Holding last week launched the new advertising campaign, which he hopes will inspire a positive change in driver behaviour.
Mr Hall said if one life was saved by this new campaign then it would be worth telling his story.
His two sons, Anthony, 15, and Travis, 14, were killed in a high-speed crash on 4 January 1995.
The driver survived and received a three month suspended sentence.
“They had gone to Cockatoo to stay at a friend’s place for the night and were playing cricket when they decided to go to the milk bar for a drink,” Mr Hall said.
“They were going to walk but a friend turned up and said he would drive them.
“They got to the milk bar, but on the way back by all reports the car was seen and heard driving at high speeds.”
“They failed to make a bend and hit a tree. The boys were killed instantly,” Mr Hall said.
Mr Hall hopes the new campaign will help get the message across that speeding kills.
Mr and Mrs Hall decided to take part in the campaign after hearing about it on a radio station.
But Mr Hall said the decision was not taken lightly.
“We felt something had to be done to get the message across, especially the way the road toll was going,” he said.
“We thought if we let people see from our side how speeding affects people it might save one life.”
Mr Hall hopes people understand that they took part in the campaign to get the message across to people to slow down.
As well as being personally affected by road tragedy, Mr Hall has also seen many accidents as an Upwey CFA volunteer.
“We have to educate these clowns somehow that a few seconds of stupidity can lead to a lifetime of grief,” he said.
In the three-minute advertising clip, each family member is shown holding a photograph of the loved-ones they have lost.
Mr Holding said: “Speeding drivers are the biggest killers on Victorian Roads, with speeding a factor in at least 30 per cent of all road fatalities,” he said.
“This new campaign tells the true and heartbreaking stories of 10 families, often mothers and fathers whose children were killed as a result of speeding on our roads.”
Mr Holding said although the road toll had fallen from 397 in 2002 to 332 deaths in 2007, speeding continued to be a major killer on Victorian roads.
“The faster you go, the more likely you are to be involved in a crash and be seriously injured or killed,” he said.