After 33 years on the force, Sergeant Joe McDonald has seen more than his share of tragedy – including one week he’ll never forget. This festive season, he has a message for every young driver hitting the road: it can happen to you.
In the space of one week in 2017, Mount Barker-based Sergeant Joe McDonald faced two moments no police officer ever forgets.
The first was at the home of his friend Richard Scott. Richard’s 22-year-old daughter, Holly, was fighting for her life after her car hit a tree near Echunga. When Joe saw her name come up on the system, he volunteered to deliver the message himself – he’d grown up with Richard and been a groomsman at his wedding.
“It’s terrible,” Joe says. “You don’t ever want to do that, but it’s part of what we have to do. At least, with Holly, there was still hope. She was alive. Usually, when we do it, there’s no hope – the person’s already gone.”
Just a few days later, Joe met his neighbours at a funeral home to walk them through identifying their 21-year-old son, who had been killed in a car crash the night before. Then he took them to the scene to explain what had happened.
“We don’t normally have two in a week,” he says. “It was just one of those things … the kind of week you remember.”
The ripple effect of road trauma
Talking about those back-to-back tragedies still makes Joe emotional now. They’re a devastating example of the ripple effects of road trauma – especially in country communities.
“That’s the thing people don’t realise,” he says. “It’s not just the family. It’s the friends, the neighbours, the whole street. In regional towns, we all know each other. We all feel it.”
Joe grew up in Mount Barker and remembers what it was like as a teenager. “I used to be able to drive around and name the trees where I’d lost mates. It never leaves you.”
‘One of the biggest killers of young people’
After 33 years in uniform as a country copper – 17 of them in Mount Barker – Joe has been involved in the aftermath of more road tragedies than most of us can imagine. He’s seen it all: drink-driving, fatigue, distraction, bad luck and heartbreak.
“The biggest thing now is distraction,” he says. “When I was a lad, we didn’t have mobile phones. Everything’s on the phone now – social media, messages, pings, notifications. People think, ‘I’ll just have a quick look.’ Forget the ping. Forget the whatever. It can wait.”
He’s noticed some progress, too. “Honestly, I think young people today are a bit better with drink-driving than my generation ever was. The message has sunk in. But there’s still room for improvement – and phones are the new danger.”
Then there’s driver fatigue – especially in the country. “People underestimate how deadly tiredness is. I remember going out to a crash on Boxing Day – the driver had fallen asleep, rolled the car and killed his wife. Their one-year-old baby survived. That bloke will live with that forever.”
“Driving’s one of the riskiest things you’ll ever do. It’s one of the biggest killers of young people in Australia. People forget that.”
The bucket and the burden
Joe says every serious crash sets off a chain reaction through the community.
“It’s not just police. You’ve got CFS, ambos, sometimes the SES, tow-truck drivers, hospital staff. And up here, they’re all locals. The CFS crews are volunteers – they might even know the person in the car.”
First responders have their own shorthand for the emotional toll. “They talk about the bucket,” Joe says. “Every time you go to a job like that, a bit more goes into the bucket. Eventually it fills. That’s when people struggle … You’ve got to find your own way to stop it overflowing.”
For Joe, that means long walks, the occasional swim and keeping an eye on his team. “When something bad happens, we look out for each other. Especially if the person involved is known to someone in the station. That happens a lot in country towns.”
The long road back
Against the odds, Holly Scott survived. She spent two weeks in a coma, two months in rehab and years rebuilding her life. Her dad, Richard, slept on a blow-up mattress in the hospital waiting room while she fought to recover. He watched his daughter learn to stand again, to walk again, to trust life again.
Now 28, Holly is a SAPOL Road Safety Ambassador who shares her story with students across the state – a reminder that even careful drivers aren’t immune to danger. Police believe she swerved to avoid a kangaroo on her way home from work to her boyfriend’s place, hitting a tree. Holly doesn’t remember the crash – only what came after.
“She’s turned a very bad situation into the best it can be,” Joe says. “If what she’s doing helps one person, it’s worth it. And I’m sure it’s helped well more than one.”
He says her presentations really hit home. “When someone like me talks to them, I’m just the old bloke in uniform. But Holly’s the right age group – when she talks, they listen.”
A message for young drivers
Joe’s seen how quickly things can go wrong so many times over the years. That’s why, as Christmas approaches, his message to young South Australians is simple.
“Don’t think it can’t happen to you. That’s what everyone thinks – until it does.”
He knows what saves lives:
- Put the phone away: “If it pings, it can wait. There’s nothing on your screen worth a life.”
- Plan ahead: “If you’re heading into town for a big night, plan to stay. Book a motel, share a room with your mates – or throw a swag in the bag and use it. Just make it part of the plan before you go.”
- If the plan doesn’t work, make the call for a lift: “Mum and dad might be a bit annoyed that they get woken up at 2am, but they’d much rather that than have me or someone else knock on the door.”
- If you’re driving long distances, stop to rest: “Fatigue kills. If you’re tired, stop. Don’t risk it.”
- Have the conversation. “Tell family and friends they can call you for a lift; have that support network and use it. It’s better to have an awkward moment than a lifetime of regret.”
More information and tips about how to stay safe on the roads this festive season is here.
