Road safety advocate Shannon Lebourne is urging government leaders and enforcement agencies to take decisive action to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries by strengthening traffic law enforcement and introducing tighter regulations to reinforce public education efforts.
Lebourne emphasized that while public awareness campaigns play a critical role in promoting safer driving behaviors, education alone is not enough without consistent enforcement and modernized regulations to support it.
“Education works best when it’s backed by accountability,” said Lebourne. “Every statistic represents a life lost or permanently changed and we already know what behaviors cause the most harm. The real question is how long we are willing to tolerate weak enforcement and outdated regulations while people continue to die on our roads.”
Lebourne stressed that while public education campaigns have improved awareness, their impact is significantly reduced without visible enforcement and modern regulatory frameworks to reinforce safe behavior.
Studies show that consistent enforcement of traffic laws can reduce crashes by up to 20–30 percent, yet many communities continue to face limited enforcement capacity and inconsistent penalties.
According to Lebourne, this gap sends a dangerous message that traffic violations are low-risk, even when the consequences can be fatal.
“Despite ongoing public education initiatives, insufficient enforcement and outdated regulatory frameworks undermine their effectiveness”. Safer roads require a coordinated approach,” Lebourne argues. “When education, enforcement, and regulation work together, we can save lives and create a culture where road safety is the norm, not an afterthought”, he added.
Lebourne is calling for increased enforcement of existing traffic laws, particularly in high-risk areas and updated regulations that reflect current driving conditions and technologies.
