Tuesday's horrific crash on the South Coast that claimed at least three lives and left two women badly injured is a tragic reminder the holiday season is one of the deadliest times of the year to be on the road.
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The accident, which closed the Princes Highway for hours, also highlighted the fact many of the interstate roads used by Canberrans for their summer getaways are among the most heavily trafficked, and potentially dangerous, in the country.
Motorists heading across the border can't afford to be complacent just because 2017 has been an excellent year so far for the ACT in terms of road safety.
Canberrans are just as likely to die on NSW roads as they are while travelling within the boundaries of the city state.
A recent study carried out for the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust found ACT drivers were involved in 55 fatal crashes, and 1,188 crashes involving injuries, on NSW roads between 2006 and 2010. A total of 70 people died on Canberra's roads over the same period.
With only five deaths recorded to the end of November, Canberra's own roads are unequivocally the safest in the nation right now with annual deaths per 100,000 people of just 1.22.
This compares to a national average of 4.92 deaths per 100,000 people. It is a tenth of the Northern Territory's 12.66 deaths per 100,000 and significantly better than NSW's 4.82 deaths per 100,000.
While the ACT recorded its lowest ever number of road deaths in 2011, when just six people were killed, cherry picking statistics does not present an accurate picture given the city's low population and the relatively short distances travelled. One or two bad accidents can significantly skew the results.
That happened in 2012 when Canberra's road toll doubled to 12. In 2005, the worst year on our roads for the century so far, 26 people were killed.
What this means is that at no point can the authorities, or individual motorists, relax their vigilance and say "mission accomplished".
This is, if anything, highlighted by the success of the war on road deaths over the past 50 years.
In 1970, when Australia's population was roughly half what it is today, seat belts were just being made mandatory and there were fewer than 5 million cars on the road, 3,798 people were killed in road smashes. This represented just over 30 deaths for every 100,000 people.
By the end of 2016, when the population was nudging the 25 million mark, only 1,293 people, or 4.92 per 100,000, had been killed.
The message from that magnificent achievement is that road deaths are highly preventable.
The most common cause of any crash, fatal or otherwise, is driver error. This commonly ranges from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding, texting while driving or driving while fatigued.
Any death is one death too many. If you get behind the wheel these holidays your safety, and the safety of those who ride with you and who share the road, is in your hands.
