Drivers get off lightly with points

By ALEX MITCHELL

NSW Roads Minister Michael Costa has been urged to double the number of demerit points for all traffic offences this Easter - and not just on speeding and seatbelt offences.

"For far too long there has been a culture that focuses on speed and seatbelts while ignoring all the other dangerous driver behaviours," said Harold Scruby, chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia.

"This Easter drivers who are alone in their vehicles not wearing their seatbelts, where they are not compromising anyone else's safety but their own, will receive double demerit points six points.

"Yet they can run a red light, hog the outside lane, cross double lines, go straight through stop signs, change lanes without indicating, use hand-held mobile phones where the potential for harm can be far greater to themselves and others, but double-demerit points do not apply.