The family of a young man who was killed in a head-on crash in Canberra is calling for tougher measures to deal with people who steal cars and drive recklessly, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Matthew McLuckie, 20, had been travelling home from his job at the Canberra Airport when another car, allegedly travelling at high speeds on the wrong side of the road, collided with his car.
The police are still searching for the driver of a third car they believe was also involved in the incident.
Matthew's father, Tom McLuckie, said his son had been filled with dreams and hopes for his future when he was killed on May 19 in the crash on Hindmarsh Drive.
Matthew had been studying at the Australian National University for a degree in computing and had been saving up to buy his first home, he said.
He was saving up to buy a house, he was planning to build a strength-building regime, just like any normal young man with all these hopes, dreams, plans and they're just robbed of him on that evening. In the wake of his son's death, he is campaigning for change, including calling for stronger penalties for street racing.
He said that the consensus within the ACT police and justice system was that Matthew's death was an accident waiting to happen. He said that this is not going to be the last death of this kind this year.
Mr McLuckie wanted to see higher minimum mandatory sentencing for those guilty of dangerous driving, as well as a tougher stance on parole for offenders.
He said people are getting bail, good behaviour bonds, parole, and the ability to re-offend.
McLuckie has started a social media campaign called ACTnowforsaferroads, and will be petitioning the ACT Legislative AssemblyACT Legislative Assembly to investigate whether legislation could be strengthened, with the goal of preventing further deaths like his son's.
Since our devastating loss, we have been told this is 'an accident waiting to happen' as a group of people in the ACT get their kicks out of baiting police, stealing cars, racing and driving on the wrong side of the road, and are often drug and alcohol-impaired, among other crimes, he wrote online.
The ACT Legislative Assembly issued its condolences to the McLuckie family and said it was awaiting the results of an investigation into Matthew's death.
The statement said the government is waiting for the outcome of the police investigation into what happened.
In any case, dangerous driving is unacceptable.
Police'sick and tired of capturing the same offender over and over again'
Alex Caruana of the Australian Federal Police Association said he agreed with Mr McLuckie that the ACT's laws needed to be strengthened, including ensuring offenders faced sentencing rather than simply a penalty for reckless driving.
We really hope that the review that is going to be conducted is going to be a thorough review and they don't wait for an incident to occur before they change the legislation. He said it was frustrating seeing the same people caught multiple times for the same offenses instead of seeing them in court.
Under current laws, police officers also didn't have the same powers as their NSW counterparts to seize vehicles, which was contributing to the problem, he said.
When someone is caught speeding or hooning or antisocial behaviour in that sense, we would like to see the police have the power to seize that car immediately, he said.
There is a perception that this government is soft on crime, and we need to take a tougher stance on things like this so that things don't happen to the McLuckie family again. ACT Policing had laid more than 1,100 charges for serious driving offences in the past two and a half years.