Bruce Highway reopened, woman fights for life after 12 vehicles in crashes

Sunshine Coast police have revealed what may have caused two serious crashes involving a dozen vehicles which shut down the Bruce Hwy, leaving a woman fighting for life and 8 others injured. LATEST

Police believe “inattention” could be one of the causes of two serious crashes involving 12 vehicles on the Bruce Hwy, which left one woman fighting for life in hospital and several others injured.

Both lanes of the highway at the southern end of the Sunshine Coast have reopened after motorists faced hours of delays on Friday morning ahead of the start of the Queensland school holidays.

The drama began when emergency services initially rushed to a 10-vehicle crash in the southbound lanes of the Bruce Hwy at Nirimba at 6.30am.

The Queensland Ambulance Service said there was then a second serious crash between a motorcycle, a car and three other vehicles at 6.43am on the highway heading northbound.

An RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter landed on a stretch of highway which was closed to police and flew a woman, aged in her 50s, to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

The Sunshine Coast-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew has flown after a car collided with the back of her motorcycle on the Bruce Highway, causing her to lose control and crash.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said the motorcyclist had life threatening chest and leg injuries

Sunshine Coast Police District Duty Officer Brett Young spoke to media on Friday where he believed inattention was involved in the two crashes, but said the Forensic Crash Unit would investigate.

“We believe there was a truck pulled over to the side of the road (southbound) and that motorists had slowed basically to observe the truck … and inadvertently caused the collision,” Senior Sergeant Young said.

Senior Sergeant Young said cars piled up following the crash with only moments later a second crash occurring in the opposite northbound lanes.

A motorcycle rider is fighting for life after a collision with a car on the Bruce Highway.

“Traffic had slowed as well (northbound), there were five vehicles involved there including a (female) motorcycle rider … who has collided with another vehicle and then into a guard rail, and unfortunately gone over the guard rail and sustained critical injuries.”

The senior cop said nine people were injured in total with eight taken to Caboolture Hospital and Sunshine Coast University Hospital respectively while the rider was flown to hospital in Brisbane.

Senior Sergeant Young said he believed she had gone into surgery where she remained in a critical condition about 1pm on Friday.

He said there were two other crashes near the Bruce Hwy on Friday morning, with a vehicle rolling onto its roof at Roys Rd at Beerwah.

The senior cop said those involved only suffered minor injuries.

The vehicle rollover along Roys Rd at Beerwah near the Bruce Hwy on Friday. Picture: Facebook

The District Duty Officer said there was also another crash where a vehicle crashed into a fence at Wild Horse Mountain.

He said the highway has since been opening with all vehicles involved removed from the highway following the “critical” incident.

“Considering one of the vehicles involved was a heavy vehicle … the damage was quite extensive to all vehicles involved,” Senior Sergeant Young said.

“They were across both lanes of the highway, blocked the highway, and took us quite some time to actually get the vehicles off the road."

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said the southbound lane reopened just before 10am, with the northbound lanes reopened before midday.

It is understood eight tow trucks were called.

ALMOST 700 NOTICES ISSUED IN BRUCE HWY BLITZ

The crashes came as police revealed they had issued almost 700 infringement notices during a three month blitz on the Bruce Highway.

Highway Patrol Units and the Road Policing Task Force did saturation patrols between the Pine Rivers Bridge, Murrumba Downs and Gin Gin.

Police detected six high speed offences, seven people driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and 18 unlicensed drivers.

Police said Operation Cold Snap would take over on Saturday to coincide with the winter school holidays.

The scene of the crash on the Bruce Highway. Picture: Contributed.

The two-week road safety blitz will involve roadside breath testing, stationary observation, and overt and covert patrols along highways and major road corridors across the Sunshine Coast.

“Sadly, as of June 20, there has been 133 lives lost on roads across the state, with three of those being on the Sunshine Coast. “Each one of these lives lost is a tragedy and the Highway Patrol, and all officers that support the work they do, are committed to strengthening road safety and preventing any increase in that number,’’ North Coast Region Assistant Commissioner Glenn Morris said.

Crash on the Bruce Highway near Roys Road.

The Bruce Highway was closed near Nirimba, Coochin Creek, in both directions following the two separate crashes.

7News Brisbane footage of a horror crash on the Bruce Highway at the Sunshine Coast which sparked massive delays. Picture: 7News Brisbane

A commuter reported traffic had been at a standstill as emergency crews raced by.

7News Brisbane footage of a horror crash on the Bruce Highway at the Sunshine Coast which sparked massive delays. Picture: 7News Brisbane

A video showed a huge line up of traffic as emergency crews worked at the scene.

In another crash on Johnston Road at the Glasshouse Mountains, a driver has been removed from their car by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

The Sunshine Coast-based RACQ Life Flight rescue helicopter landed on the Bruce Highway to treat a woman in her 50s who came off her motorcycle.

A QFES spokesman said four crews attended the single vehicle crash at 9.05am.

He said the car was on fire and the driver needed help getting out.

The fire is now out and paramedics were assessing the driver on scene.

Two separate traffic incidents on the Bruce Highway near the Bell Creeks Road have caused traffic to come to a standstill. Both lanes were closed as emergency services worked.

Earlier at Mountain Creek, two patients were assessed by paramedics after a vehicle rollover on the Sunshine Motorway south bound at 8.17pm on Thursday. They both declined QAS transport to hospital.

The traffic lined up on the Bruce Highway after a crash on Friday involving seven cars and two trucks.

At Deception Bay, paramedics, including Critical Care, attended a serious motorcycle and vehicle crash on Deception Bay Road at 6.20pm. Five patients were assessed, including four stable patients and one adult male who sustained life-threatening injuries.

In Central Queensland, multiple emergency crews, including a rescue helicopter have responded to a multi-vehicle crash just south of a mining town.

Crews were called to the incident on Blackwater-Rolleston Rd at Stewarton, south of Blackwater, about 6.50am. A spokeswoman for Queensland Ambulance Service said two men, aged in their 60s and 20s, were encapsulated in one of the vehicles and were reported to be conscious.

 

Originally published as Bruce Highway reopened, woman fights for life after 12 vehicles in crashes