By Luke Voogt
Every day Fiona Reidy thinks of son Rory who died in a crash days before his 17th birthday.
“It’s an event that completely turned our lives upside down,” she told the Indy this week, close to five years since the tragedy.
Dr Reidy went from planning Rory’s birthday on New Year’s Eve to arranging his funeral after a friend invited him out on a late-night ride.
The 17-year-old friend had taken a car without his parents’ permission.
“Rory was the least likely person to be in that position, but he was,” Dr Reidy said.
“Something happens when young people get in groups.”
The driver was travelling over 200km/h on Swan Bay Road when he hit gravel, lost control and smashed into a tree.
With young people over-represented in Victoria’s road toll, Dr Reidy stressed that death was just one consequence of reckless driving.
Young people could end up disabled for life or responsible for a friend’s death, she said.
“It’s really like a stone in a pond. It ripples on and on.”
Time in youth detention for culpable driving was probably the least of the consequences for the driver, Dr Reidy said.
“I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to turn around and see a friend lifeless.”
“To have that memory for the rest of your life is a high price to pay for a spontaneous decision.”
Safer Drivers is one of the four pillars of the TAC’s Towards Zero vision.
Drivers aged to 25 comprised a quarter of Victorian road deaths despite holding 14 per cent of licences.
TAC spokesperson Hamish Heard encouraged parents to discuss strategies for avoiding risky situations, especially with the end of school in sight.
“If your kids are going away it’s great if parents can lend them the safest car in the family,” he said.
“The safety features can be the difference between a fatal and a near miss.”
