Seventy lives were lost on our roads in 2017 which is ten more than the same period in 2016.
Police Chief of Operations ACP Rusiate Tudravu says that as the New Year begins, they are optimistic that people will adopt a change of attitude about road safety.
Tudravu says that the 70 fatalities recorded last year was the highest number of road deaths recorded since 2008.
He says that based on the statistics, both drivers and pedestrians have an equal role to play in road safety which they have emphasized on numerous occasions.
Tudravu adds that speeding continues to be a major area of concern and despite repeated calls to adhere to the national speed limits, traffic infringement notices clearly indicates blatant disregard for the law which needs to change if we are to avoid accidents and fatalities this year.
He says this was evident during the first 15 day period of Operation Yalodei whereby 1,700 speeding infringement notices were issued throughout Fiji.
Police is urging members of the public not to look at the work of traffic officers whether they are conducting random breathalyzer checks or radar operations as an obstacle to their travel plans but know that they are conducting their work to help keep people safe and reinforce the issue of safety.
