Two lives lost on country roads in separate crashes in state’s South East in less than five days
A Hawthorndene woman has died in the second fatal crash on South East roads in a week close to the anniversaries of two major local tragedies.
SA News
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A woman has died after her car crashed into a Stobie pole at Millicent Thursday.
The 70-year-old Hawthorndene woman’s death comes less than a week after a 31-year-old Mount Gambier man was killed when his car hit a tree at Tarpeena Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, Friday marks the five year anniversary of one of the worst road tragedies in the region’s history.
Four young forestry workers – Reece Wilkinson, Steven Whitehead, Chris Sylvester and Nick Roser – were killed on their way to work at a forestry plantation near Penola at 3am on November 19, 2016.
The crashes also come almost a year after Millicent stalwarts Ned Walker, 80, his wife Nan Walker, 77, and their daughter Sue Skeer, 55, were killed in head-on collision on the outskirts of Mount Gambier on November 28, 2020.
Limestone Coast Police Superintendent Campbell Hill asked everyone to pay attention on country roads and echoed the message of South Australia Police’s new safety campaign set to air early next year.
The campaign aims to curb the number of lives lost on country roads highlighting the fatal five – drink and drug driving, speeding, distraction, seatbelts and dangerous road use – as the leading cause of road trauma on SA roads.
Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said the impacts of road accidents had far reaching consequences for communities.
“While only 30 per cent of South Australia’s population lives in regional or rural areas, an alarming 70 per cent of deaths happen on regional roads,” Mr Parrott said.
“These ads will demonstrate the devastating effects of the fatal five when driving in regional and rural areas and urge drivers to make life saving decisions on the road, whether they’re a local or a visitor.”
While regional residents believe it is mostly tourists and city drivers who lose their lives on country roads, Mr Parrot said the data demonstrated otherwise.
“Nearly half of the people who have died on regional roads this year have resided 20km or less from where the collision occurred,” he said.
On Thursday, the Princes Hwy was closed between Willow Bank Rd and Agricultural Bureau Dr at Millicent while Major Crash investigators examined the scene.
The crash blacked out 6887 homes from Robe to Tantanoola after it brought down a major electrical line.
Paul Hayward, who lives just off Willow Bank Rd said cars are often well above the speed limit as they exited the town.
“From here it’s about 800m before it turns 80km/h … and about another 500m before it turns 110km/h,” Mr Hayward said.
He said it wasn’t too long ago that he was a witness to a major crash along the stretch.
“I saw a car on its roof two driveways up,” he said.
“I was a prime witness, by the time I got there the dust was just settling – I helped the woman out the car.
“She was going too fast coming out of Millicent.”
Nearby residents to Sunday’s fatal Tarpeena crash, Brett Kennedy and Melissa McIntosh said the stretch of road was infamously dangerous.
“It’s notorious for people to fly through here at night,” Mr Kennedy said. “We see it all the time.”
Road Safety Minister Vincent Tarzia said “it’s not enough to know the road like the back of your hand”.
“Country people lose their lives on country roads — it’s not a myth.”
The woman’s death is the 88th life lost on South Australia roads this year compared with 77 at the same time last year.
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