The images of mangled cars becomes visceral for me as I remember my lucky escape from serious injury after a road accident earlier this year.

The sudden and permanent impact on families is devastating. And the cumulative effect on emergency services workers from attending such terrible scenes is also devastating and often permanently traumatic.

Their dignified pleas for us to drive to the conditions and to be attentive often seem to go unheeded.

I would like to propose an annual national "Go Slow Week" so that motorists can choose to drive 20km/h slower than the highway speed limit.

I am not suggesting that the recent accidents were caused by excessive speed - I don't know the causes.

We do know there are many factors that contribute to road accidents besides excessive speed.

However, I have found that when I do drive at a lower speed I have time to be more attentive, and I feel so much safer when I don't drive to the limit or succumb to the pressure from other motorists following closely behind me.

A Go Slow Week could be a way to remember and honour everyone involved in road trauma and, importantly, cause us to truly reflect on and value what a gift life is.

THE financial cost to the public amid the COVI pandemic can be measured in more ways than health.

A typical example is the government's favourite public milking cow - fuel. The rising cost of fuel can only be attributed to the dire need of the government to refill it's trough. Nowhere do we see cuts being made in overseas spending, bureaucratic spending or government perks.

The public milk cow for all government intent appears to never run dry.

I am absolutely annoyed the many people are not using the Check in Tas app or signing into all stores and venues. I think it should be compulsory. Make it a law. Sign in or be penalized - maybe a fine?

IT'S great news that Premier Peter Gutwein wishes to close the gap in life expectancy, education and employment.

It is my personal opinion that the Tasmanian Aboriginal community would benefit from additional Aboriginal health services across Tasmania. This would increase employment, community involvement and healthcare for Aboriginal persons living in regional Tasmania.

Aboriginal controlled health services would support parents and children with school and education and teach valuable language and cultural practices to community.

THE Meander Valley Council continues to apply censorship on opponents of the northern prison that the government propose to build on a nature reserve at Westbury.

The latest activity by this council is to hold a public meeting that has taken two separate petitions to achieve.

The meeting is advertised to be held at a time dictated by council that would make it difficult for young family parents and working people to attend.

The meeting will be controlled by limited ticketing in a council-owned venue that recently held a funeral service for a local hero where at least a thousand people attended with no restrictions.

The organisers of the petition have been told they will have no say or input in the running of the event. Questions clearly need to be asked.

The general manager should be managing the facilities, roads and personnel, the clean-up of the disgusting roadside verges etc.

Not dictating over the wishes of the residents.

THERE has been some interesting articles in The Examiner lately about our court systems and the Westbury prison site.

For once I do agree that the present site for the prison is not the best one. Letter writer Ms. Poulton from WRAP points out that the site has massive environmental values.

To me, the best site was the original site.

A few weeks back The Examiner ran a few articles on the court systems in Tasmania.

There was the court mandated drug system for offenders which I believe has had some success.

The other issue is that the prison system is not rehabilitating people while they are in the prison.

This then lends itself to more people reoffending.

So this brings us back to the new prison site. The original site had plenty of room for expansion.

There is plenty of good ground there to start a market garden that is run by the prisoners as part of a rehabilitation program.

And after reading and listening on radio about what is going on with the prison system at Risdon, then this would have to be a win-win situation for all involved.

I urge the government to think outside the square on this issue.

Try and help some of these offenders to get back on track and keep them out of prison.