Story Archive

Buckle up for Safety

A 27-year-old man was pulled over on the Great Northern Highway near Broome, W.A., Australia. He was allegedly driving with a suspended license, but all the seat belts in the vehicle were buckled and car seats were properly installed. According to police, though, instead of buckling in his children, the man secured several cartons of beer while the children were lying on the laps of adults — or in foot wells. The unnamed man was charged with “no authority to drive,” and failure to restrain a child. According to Kimberly District Superintendent Allan Adam, this type of incident is not uncommon in a region where many people smuggle alcohol into dry Aboriginal communities. “This is the third traffic action we’ve had at that location with significant amounts of alcohol being conveyed along that route,” Adam said. “We’ve also got some serious concerns around the number of people that are driving on suspended licences and also not restraining themselves and their passengers. And unfortunately on a large number of occasions those passengers are kids.” (MS/ABC Australia) ...And some Australians think the Aborigines are savages.