I was an idiot: Polak tells of near-fatal tram dashAdam Carey
September 22, 2010 - 2:52PMRetired AFL star Graham Polak had only a few drinks before he tried to outrun a tram as he crossed Dandenong Road towards a waiting taxi.
Famously, it was a decision that almost killed him.
"I had alcohol in me but I put it more down to a misjudgment," Polak said today at the launch of Grogger, a downloadable game modelled on '80s pinball parlour classic Frogger.
To this day, the former Richmond tall remembers almost nothing about being hit — and he says he's happy to keep it that way — but understands that there were two trams running in opposite directions along the middle of the road, and that he only saw one of them.
"We were on the way out, it was night time, and I was standing with one of my teammates, Cleve Hughes, and we were about to walk across the road," Polak says.
"And instead of doing the appropriate thing and going where you're supposed to go at the pedestrian crossing, I thought I'd try and just run across the street and across the tram tracks.
"And looking at it now, I think I'm an idiot for doing it, I should've just followed the rules. From then I can't remember much, but obviously the tram came along too quick for me and got me."
Statistically, Melbourne's inner city is the most dangerous place in the state to walk, with the highest recorded number of collisions between pedestrians and vehicles.
Last year 243 people were hit, and of those 75 were seriously injured and two died. Young people and people who have been drinking are the most represented among those figures.
Among those seriously injured, 42 per cent were in their 20s, while more than 30 per cent of pedestrians killed in the past five years had a blood-alcohol reading higher than .05.
In an attempt to reduce the rate of injuries and death, the City of Melbourne today launched Grogger, a game that can be played online or on a mobile phone or iPad.
To win, players must successfully cross a bustling Flinders Street, dodging traffic and collecting bottles of water, which accrue points, or performance-reducing bottles of beer.
Dr Bruce Corben, senior research fellow at Monash University Accident Research Centre, could not say how significantly the game would influence the behaviour of its target market of young men, but said it was worth a try.
"Usually we try to propose an evidence-based approach to the measures that we use but there are certain things where you don't have a solution that's already proven so I think you have to start exploring new possibilities," Dr Corben said.
Polak offered a simple message to take more care.
"You're not invincible. I thought as I ran across the street that I was safe but one split second and, as I said, my life's changed."
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/i-was-an-idiot-polak-tells-of-nearfatal-tram-dash-20100922-15mg8.html
