Source: Mercury
A WOMAN killed in a hit-and-run incident near Burnie, Tasmania on Good Friday was a prominent gay activist.

Yvette Suzanne Sneddon, of Natone, was riding a motorcycle in a collision with a car on a road south of Burnie in the Australian state of Tasmania.

Police are investigating and want to speak to anyone who saw a red Ford on Natone Rd.

Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesman Rodney Croome said yesterday that Dr Sneddon, 49, had been the convenor of a North-West gay support group in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Mr Croome said she had stood up to the challenges of the law-reform debate.

"Yvette rose to the challenge, becoming a tower of strength, a tireless organiser and an eloquent advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their families," he said.

"It was because of the bravery of people like Yvette that Tasmania is a better place today."

Mr Croome said Dr Sneddon had been a nurse before becoming a senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania's School of Nursing and Midwifery in Burnie.

"She will also be remembered for her ground-breaking research into the health and well being of lesbian women and their families," he said.

Three people were killed on Tasmanian roads in the Easter period, taking the road toll to 15 compared with 12 at the same time last year.

After the incident that killed Sneddon, police in Tasmania expressed exasperation with what they described as rising road fatalities in the state.

"We're shocked by the number of deaths after the past two years have remained fatality-free," Inspector Paul Gray said.

"Clearly people aren't heeding warnings not to drink-drive, not to speed and to drive to the conditions."

A quarter of the Easter drink-driving offenders were issued Excessive Drinking Notices after recording readings more than three times the legal limit on breathalysers, with one motorist blowing 0.168.

Police also conducted eight drug-driving tests which netted one driver who was behind the wheel after consuming illicit drugs.

Police said there were few problems on roads yesterday.

Full article: Lesbian activist killed | | Mercury
Tassie drink-drive outrage | Mercury