We are blessed with stunning autumn weather. (And some rain this year!) There is less of the stress and rampant consumerism of Christmas (save for the overindulgence in chocolate). Families have time to decompress and spend time with each other. We get away from it all and enjoy the season of renewal. Many of us head to the South Coast for that last dip in the ocean before winter hits.

Easter is also, unfortunately, often about the tragedy of road deaths.

So many of us get on the road for the holiday (even with the traditional spike in petrol prices) and sadly some of us won't come back home.

Few roads in the region are busier at this time than the Kings Highway, Canberra's route to the coast. The NRMA has called on the Federal Government to use the May budget to direct more money into fixing local roads including the Kings Highway.

NRMA director and ACT resident Alan Evans rightly points out that if the Government wants to spend to stimulate the economy, it should do so on projects such as the road network ''which will have short-term benefits and also deliver economic and transport benefits for generations to come''.

More funding to improve our regional roads is essential. So too is a consistently high police presence not just during the holiday periods.

But when it comes to the Kings Highway, what is required more than anything is a change in driver attitude.

There would be few motorists who have not witnessed a driver taking an unnecessary risk on the Kings Highway. Whether it's overtaking on a rise to get one car length ahead or tailgating another vehicle that is obviously doing the speed limit, too many people act like absolute drongos on the Kings Highway. And for what? To arrive maybe five, 10 minutes earlier? Most of us have seen that person who overtook us at high speed earlier end up at the Braidwood bakery at the same time anyway. At this time of traditional contemplation and reflection, the message on the roads has to be this: stop being selfish and start thinking of others.