Fifty-five kilometres south of Tamworth on the New England Highway sits a pub, a cafe and a few houses.

Aside from the 100km/h-zoned highway cutting through the centre of the town – serving as the main stretch of road between Sydney and Tamworth – Wallabadah is an otherwise quiet village. 

When drivers speed through there, people notice. 

So when a 46-year-old man was clocked allegedly travelling 158km/h – nearly 60km/h over the speed limit – on the highway just north of Wallabadah last Friday, it was police who also noticed.

Police issued the driver a $2384 penalty notice for exceeding the speed limit by more than 45km/h, his NSW driver's licence was suspended for six months, the registration plates were removed from the vehicle and the registration was cancelled for three months.

It’s a harsh lesson, but one we should all wake up to. 

Wallabadah is just one of many small towns that highways and busy thoroughfares run through the middle of. 

It’s not fair on them, other road users and even emergency services that drivers still choose to thumb their nose to the speed limits in place. There is no reason to justify speeding, and there is no time for complacency on the roads.

As the country gears up to celebrate Australia Day on Friday, double demerits will be in place on NSW roads from midnight Wednesday, January 24 to midnight Sunday, January 28.

Police are calling on drivers to heed their safe-driving warning. Stick to the speed limits, obey road rules, wear a seat belt and don’t use your mobile phone while driving.

They might sound like simple tasks that have been drilled into us every public-holiday period since we first learnt to drive as a teenager, but too many people still choose to ignore them. 

You don’t want to ruin a holiday with a fine, let alone an accident, injury or death. 

Public holidays – or any time for that matter – are not about getting somewhere by a certain time. 

It’s important to not get frustrated on the road. You’re going to get to your destination in the end. Don’t die for a deadline. 

It might sound cliched, but ending up in hospital or putting someone else there, is just not worth it.