70 lives lost on our roads in 2017

Seventy lives were lost on our roads last year, which is the highest number of road deaths recorded almost over a decade.

Police Chief of Operations ACP Rusiate Tudravu says the road death toll stood at 60 for the same time in 2016.

He says as the new year begins, they are optimistic that people will adopt a change of attitude about road safety.

Tudravu says based on statistics, speeding continues to be a major area of concern and despite repeated calls to adhere to the national speed limits set out by authorities the traffic infringement notices clearly indicate blatant disregard for the law which needs to change to avoid accidents and fatalities this year.

ACP Tudravu says this was evident during the first 15 day period of Operation Yalodei where 1,700 speeding infringement notices were issued throughout Fiji.

He has urged members of the public not to look at the work of traffic officers whether they are conducting random breathalyser checks or radar operations as an obstacle to their travel plans but know that they are conducting their work to reinforce the issue of safety.