Police have reminded territory drivers they are responsible for protecting children who are their passengers after a string of motorists were caught putting young lives at risk this month.
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Traffic Operations Station Sergeant Rod Anderson urged adults to consider the risks of speeding, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or not using seatbelts, especially when children were involved.
Officers caught a 59-year-old man riding a motorcycle with his 18-month-old grand-daughter on his lap in Florey on May 4.
The grandfather was unlicensed, the bike was unregistered, and the only form of protection the man had for the pair was the helmet on his head.
That same day, police nabbed a woman, 33, driving a station wagon with three unrestrained children aged between three and seven, in the boot.
Less than a week later a Rivettwoman, also 33, who recorded a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when tested, told police she was on the way to pick her daughter up from child care.
Sergeant Anderson said children were the most vulnerable road users, and drivers were responsible for keeping them safe.
''Young children don't understand the safety apparatus in a vehicle and how to use it,'' he said.
''And unfortunately they come out of crashes with worse injuries.
''There's nothing worse than turning up to an accident where someone's been injured, but especially when it's a child.''
Sergeant Anderson said drivers putting children at risk wasn't a growing trend in the ACT, ''but some people let their guard down''.
Most traffic crimes were not considered a more serious offence when children were involved, however they often attracted the higher end of a fine or jail sentence.
“While restraint offences are the only traffic offences that relate directly to children, dangerous driving behaviour with children on board – such as impaired driving, hooning and speeding – could be considered as being more serious when the matter is heard in court,'' Sergeant Anderson said.
''The courts take a pretty dim view of it because the community takes a pretty dim view of it.''
Sergeant Anderson would not be drawn on whether he would like to see tougher penalties for traffic offences which involved children, saying that was the responsibility of the ACT Government.
''Certainly any measure that takes safety for our most vulnerable road users, we would support.''
