Warrnambool's Bill Hewett was 18 when he had stripes and seat belts fitted to his Morris Mini because he thought it was cool.
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Little did he know the latter would save his life.
On a wet morning in February 1965, Mr Hewett was driving to the dentist in Melbourne when he came around a corner and hit clay that had been left after roadworks.
He lost control of his Mini, which flipped and landed on its roof.
Mr Hewett got himself out of the car unscathed.
He knows he is lucky to be here today.
He said the crash weighed on him when journalist Harry Gordon later launched the "Declare War on 1034" campaign after 1034 people died on the state's roads in 1970.
The campaign influenced the state government to be the first in the world to introduce compulsory seat beat legislation. It was the first of a series of measures that reduced the state's road toll by two-thirds over the next 40 years.
The late police surgeon John Birrell was also influential in the introduction of seatbelt laws, as well as the .05 blood alcohol limit.
A member of the Rotary Club of Warrnambool East, Mr Hewett regularly addresses the club on the region's road toll.
It started in the 2017-18 rotary year when he was thinking of ideas for a guest speaker and he found Mr Birrell's story and then his obituary.
He reached out to the man's family and was granted permission to launch a road safety award program in Mr Birrell's honour.
The award recognises local police officers for outstanding service in road safety.
This year's award ceremony was held last week, on the anniversary of the police surgeon's death, with Senior Constable Melissa Gray the 2023 recipient.
The Terang police officer was the driving force behind a roadside drug testing trial which allowed Corangamite and Moyne district police to conduct the tests which were previously done by specialist units.
The success of the trial led to roadside testing being business as usual across the region.
Mr Hewett said Senior Constable Gray was nominated by her Sergeant Danny Brown.
"She was recognised by her peers for outstanding work around road safety, and it has been agreed that Melissa has made a significant contribution to reducing the road toll in our region over the past year," he said.
Terang police Sergeant Danny Brown said Senior Constable Gray had recognised local issues and trends contributing to road collisions, including impaired and distracted driving.
"Mel has investigated serious injury and fatal collisions to a high standard which is not only required by law but also out of respect for grieving families," he said.
"She's a worthy recipient and I had no hesitation in nominating her."
Senior Constable Gray was awarded $2500 which she donated to the Terang SES.
Mr Hewett said the rotary club had since assisted in the launch of a similar Dr John Birrell award in the Geelong region, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Drysdale and the Rotary Club of Bayside Geelong.
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Jessica Howard
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
