00:02Kat Brown's world changed forever during a weekend getaway.
00:06The world of her two-year-old daughter Indy ended in an instant.
00:10I lost traction and it fish charred out from behind me and I attempted to correct.
00:15We just slid for what felt like eternity until a tree brought us to a stop.
00:24The mother of two turned her attention to her kids in the back seat.
00:28But in that motion and the adrenaline of trying to get us out of the car,
00:34I could see that Indy had died instantly.
00:37I just remember pulling Taj out and trying to protect him from seeing his sister in such a bad way.
00:46Kat's tragedy happened in 2015, but her experience is not unique.
00:5188 people dying on our roads already this year, surpassing the 87 killed in all of last year.
00:59Looking at the past 12 months to September, five states have higher road tolls than the previous year.
01:06New South Wales with the most, with 356 deaths.
01:09I was not distracted. I was not on my phone. I was not speeding. I was not under the influence.
01:15Nothing. I did not fit the fatal five and yet somehow something happened and she died.
01:22In one of his final interviews as South Australian Police Commissioner, Grant Stevens said he worries more families will experience
01:30the heartbreak of losing a loved one before the end of the year.
01:33I think it's an opportunity for people to pause and reflect on what their responsibilities are when they're using the
01:40road and think about their safety and other people's safety.
01:4315 of the 88 deaths have been people aged between 40 and 49, the highest of any age bracket, something
01:51Mr Stevens attributes to complacency.
01:54The reminder is for people in that age category, probably 30 to 50, to just remember what you're doing when
02:02you're getting behind the wheel of a car or getting on a motorbike.
02:04It's not just drivers or passengers at risk of dying on the road. Pedestrians are too, as the Stevens family
02:12knows firsthand, having lost son Charlie in 2023.
02:16Life is not the same. We're different people because of this gaping hole in our lives.
02:21But we have made the choice to remember Charlie, celebrate the time we had with him.
02:26We think about him every single day. I can't impress upon people too much just how hard it is to
02:35deal with.
02:36A timely warning heading towards the high risk Christmas and summer period.
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