His Christmas wish is that no-one people will be added to that grim list.

The number of deaths on the road are up to 47, in comparison to 29 this time last year.

“Out of the 47 road deaths so far, 36 have happened outside of Darwin,” Commander Hebb said. 

A large portion of those have occurred in rural and remote areas like Katherine, he said. 

“Too often we see fatal accidents as a result of simple issues: seat belts not being worn, excessive speeding, alcohol and drug impairment or fatigue,” Commander Hebb said. 

“We are urging the community to consider these key contributors.

“It was disappointing to see the results of our recent operation, Operation Lomani, where we uncovered a number of traffic offences by drivers in Katherine and we saw drug impaired drivers,” he said. 

More reading: 

Katherine Police will be increasing targeted operations to minimise irresponsible driving over the Christmas period. 

“We will continue with protection and enforcement but we ask the Katherine community to consider the distance they are driving, that they are not under the influence, that they are wearing seat belts,” Commander Hebb said. 

“We acknowledge the vast amount of the community is doing the right thing, but there are too many not heading the warnings. 

“Christmas is supposed to be a festive time of year, we don’t want to be called to an avoidable road accident,” he said.  

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