Opinion Piece | 16 July 2025
Hon. Julie Freeman MLC
Shadow Minister for Road Safety
A 17-year-old is fighting for her life after being struck by a car on Burswood’s Camfield Drive during an organised car meet on Monday night.
As the driver of the car left the event, in what was undoubtedly a moment of profound stupidity, accelerated well above the speed limit and hit the 17-year-old as she attempted to cross the road.
A split-second decision by a driver. An almost unquantifiable impact on the victim, her family, and the hundreds of witnesses.
The footage is profoundly distressing, and my thoughts are with the 17-year-old and her family as she remains in a critical condition at the time that I write this.
This in the latest in a string of incidents on Western Australian roads that have shaken communities across our state in recent weeks.
As of July 15, 113 people have died on WA roads this year. With nearly half the year still ahead – at this rate we are heading toward a road toll exceeding 200 by December – a level not seen since 2008.
Something is seriously wrong in our state.
Driver complacency, distraction, poor decision-making and human error are costing people their lives.
I’ve read the words of grieving families. I’ve heard the pleas from paramedics at breaking point. Their message is loud and clear: we are not doing enough.
And while we will never be able to eliminate human error or stop every reckless driver, we can do a hell of a lot more to enforce the laws we already have and make our roads safer.
This means increasing police presence and prosecutions – not next year, not after a report, but right now.
In the case of what happened at Burswood on Monday, police had attended the meet previously that night. Would the driver have accelerated at such a speed if police were still stationed there? Of course we will never know, but I strongly suspect not.
The Cook Labor Government is sitting on a $2.4 billion budget surplus, buoyed by mining royalties created by the hard-working people of our state.
They have so much money they are planning on building a $217.5 million racetrack not far at all from where this incident occurred.
This is what the Cook Labor Government are choosing to spend WA taxpayer’s money on.
Imagine if we could spend that $217.5 million on police. More boots on the ground, more patrols, more speed checks, and more breathalysers.
We know that a visible police presence changes behaviour and our Government has the power to do that.
If people know there’s a good chance of being stopped, fined, or arrested — they slow down, they put their phones down, they think twice.
Right now, WA doesn’t have that deterrent. And it shows. We just don’t see as many police as we previously did on our roads.
In January, the WA Government rolled out AI-enabled cameras across more than 100 locations to catch people speeding, not wearing seatbelts, and using mobile phones.
So far, these cameras have detected tens of thousands of offences — and issued zero fines.
You read that right. Zero.
The Government announced that enforcement wouldn’t begin until October — a full nine months after the cameras went live. Until then, it’s just warnings. No penalties. No consequences.
That decision sends a dangerous message: it’s okay to break the rules, because you won’t be punished — at least not yet.
Technology can be powerful, but it only works if it’s used properly.
Cameras without enforcement are just expensive scarecrows.
They must be backed by immediate penalties and, more importantly, a visible police response. Otherwise, they do nothing to change driver behaviour.
Also, let’s be honest — driver awareness campaigns have gone soft.
Most young drivers don’t fear the consequences of their actions because the messaging has been watered down.
We need to bring back hard-hitting road safety campaigns. The ones that make people uncomfortable. The ones that show the real consequences of speeding, drink driving, and using a phone behind the wheel.
If a confronting ad saves a life, it’s worth it.
Yes — some of these drivers are “idiots”. They tear up carparks, push their cars to the limit, and think they’re invincible. A public awareness campaign may never change that mindset. But targeted policing and real penalties will make it harder for them to get away with it.
And now, a 17-year-old girl is in hospital, fighting for her life after one reckless moment.
Meanwhile, this Government is charging ahead with a multi-million-dollar racetrack which no one wants.
It’s a question of priorities. And right now, Labor’s priorities are completely out of step with the people they’re meant to represent.
When young lives are on the line, investing in enforcement, prevention, and safer roads should come first. Instead, Labor is choosing headlines over common sense — and spectacle over safety.
There’s no great mystery about how to reduce road trauma.
It’s been studied, trialled, and proven: more police, more enforcement, faster penalties, clear messaging, and real consequences. Other states are doing it. Other countries are doing it. WA can too.
What’s lacking is not money or technology. It’s leadership and urgency.
The tragedy on Camfield Drive should be a turning point — a moment when we decide that enough is enough. We can’t change what happened to that young woman, but we can change what happens next.
We can invest in enforcement, act on what works, and finally treat this road safety crisis with the seriousness it deserves.
Because if we don’t — more families will suffer and more lives will be lost
And that is a cost no budget surplus can justify.
ENDS
