Water users and motorists have been urged to take extra care this Australia Day long weekend. It comes after a spate of drownings and fatal road crashes across WA over the summer.
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00:00A plea to keep safe on the water this long weekend.
00:06What we know on Australia Day weekend is that you're four times more likely to drown than
00:10any other weekend.
00:11So it's important that people do stop, assess the conditions before they go into the water.
00:17The warning comes after 11 drownings in Western Australia so far this summer, including two
00:22deaths in one day at Lake Leshenaltia and Bremer Bay.
00:26Hundreds have also been rescued from the water, a massive increase compared to the same time
00:31last year.
00:32Well, 222 rescues last weekend really does paint the picture of the sort of conditions
00:37we've been experiencing and how it can cause rips to form at beaches, which is one of the
00:42most dangerous things that people encounter.
00:44The safety message extending to road users.
00:47We're urging all motorists to drive to the conditions, to take their time getting where
00:52they're going, to not speed and just be generally courteous to other motorists out there on
00:58the road.
00:59And skippers over the long weekend.
01:01We want people out on Australia Day enjoying themselves, but more importantly, coming home
01:06safely.
01:07I'm just going to require a sample of your breath for analysis.
01:10It's the first Australia Day Department of Transport officers will have the power to
01:14conduct drug and alcohol testing on the water.
01:17Tragically, this has been a particularly busy summer.
01:20We have already had a number of fatalities on our waterways, and even over the last two
01:24years, those incidents have increased compared to previous, and many of them have actually
01:29involved drugs and or alcohol.
01:32Authorities working together to help keep everyone safe.