Locals say roads in Fleurieu Peninsula are increasingly dangerous

A local who has witnessed her fair share of road crashes says the double fatal multi-vehicle crash on Monday was “something else” and has called for road improvements. Have your say.

Residents and witnesses to a horrific crash on the Fleurieu Peninsula that killed two women aged 44 and 64 and injured multiple others have described the scene as “something else”.

Cristie Bayford lives on Main South Road opposite where the tragic crash between a truck and its trailor and three cars occurred and was among the first on the scene.

Ms Bayford described the scene as “a nightmare” despite having previous experience witnessing similar crashes as a CFS volunteer.

“This crash was something else, and I can say that as someone who’s been in the CFS for a long time, that this crash just didn’t make any sense,” she told The Advertiser.

The scene of a multi car and truck crash on Main South Road at Wattle Flat. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“I was at home and I started hearing these loud noises opposite my home … and when I came out I just saw people everywhere.

“Obviously emergency services were on their way but at that time there were people just walking around, others driving by at high speeds, others slowing down taking video … it was a nightmare to witness.”

The truck collided with three cars – a black Ford sedan, a silver Ford sedan and a white ute – on Main South Rd at Wattle Flat 68km south of Adelaide about 12.15pm on Monday.

Two women from Queensland, who were rear passengers in the silver Ford, died of their injuries while seven people were injured in the crash, some of them critically.

The driver of the silver Ford, a 43-year-old man, was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

A 14-year-old male passenger also went to hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the ute, a 48-year-old Hay Flat man, was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

The driver of the black Ford, a 38-year-old woman, and her two passengers, a 45-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl, were all taken to hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The driver of the truck, a 35-year-old Victor Harbor man, was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

He has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, two counts of causing serious harm by dangerous driving and four counts of causing harm by dangerous driving.

The man was given police bail and is set to appear in Christies Beach Magistrates Court in December.

Ms Bayford believes the condition of the road played a major contributing factor to the collision.

“There’s also an issue with the speed limits as there’s a stretch where people are advised to go 100 km/h and then it drops to 40 km/h … that's how we get pile on with cars suddenly dropping speeds and those tailgating just unable to stop in time.”

Meanwhile, Yankalilla resident Deserae Doors said she had lived in the Fleurieu for more than three decades and had often heard horror stories about that stretch of the road.

“That road needs a lot of work,” she said. “It’s basically the same road that my grandparents used to go on back in the day when buggies pulled by horses was the main type of transport. They’ve just poured bitumen on top.

“The road needs to be widened and levelled out because at the moment there are so many dips and holes in it and it’s crumbling on the edges.”

Former Mayo MP and foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer, now an Advertiser columnist with a holiday house at Carrickalinga, urged an upgrade of Main South Rd.

“I know the road very well and use it almost weekly. It’s very windy and also busy. An upgrade is long overdue,” he said.

Influential business leader and Fleurieu Peninsula landholder Robert Champion de Crespigny said Main South Rd from Myponga to Cape Jervis was “very bad”, because it was narrow, windy, hilly and carried numerous trucks, cyclists and buses.

“There’s massive trucks on it because of the Kangaroo Island ferry. There’s sheep and cattle trucks, hay trucks and tractors. There’s very few passing lanes,” he said.

“If there are lots of passing lanes, they’re tremendous - like on the road to Melbourne. But when you get to the passing lanes down there it’s like a Grand Prix race when you get to your extra lanes.

“The road just needs upgrading. It’s a rough road. It’s too narrow and there are too few passing lanes.”

Mr Champion de Crespigny, who was Economic Development Board chairman during the Rann Labor government, acknowledged that upgrading the road would be very expensive.

He said safety along Main South Rd also was compromised by numerous kangaroos, while tourists and young people attracted by the area’s beaches were sometimes inexperienced in country driving.

Mr Champion de Crespigny said lowering the speed limit might be part of the answer - albeit frustrating for travellers - but emphasised that an upgrade was necessary.

A car had a terrifying near-miss with a truck between Yankalilla and Myponga on Sunday - a day before the horror multi-vehicle crash..

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the biggest risk to anyone on the roads was “distraction and a lack of awareness”.

“Cars are getting safer, roads are getting safer, the rules are requiring drivers to drive safer,” he said.

“The biggest risk to anyone on the roads is distraction and a lack of awareness.

“It’s human behaviour we all have to accept responsibility for.”

MP Leon Bignell said the roads were being improved in the Fleurieu Peninsula. Picture: Brett Hartwig

Mawson MP Leon Bignell told The Advertiser he had been closely working with the state government to improve the roads in the Fleurieu by building three overtaking lanes at three different locations between Myponga and Cape Jarvis.

“I believe there should be overtaking lanes installed around Wattle Flat, and then another coming up into Cape Jarvis, and the last somewhere around Second Valley,” Mr Bignell said.

“The department agreed that there should be some road developments in those areas but they disagree with me on the exact location at the moment – so we’re opening that up to public consultation.”

Mr Bignell said “the government cannot be blamed for every road crash and toll” as all “drivers should understand the responsibility they take when they get behind the wheel”.

“There are so many drunk drivers, drug drivers, inattentive drivers on our roads … people just need to grow up, take some responsibility and stop killing people,” he said.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the government was “in active procurement” for three overtaking lanes.

Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie said the road was getting busier with more traffic, and conceded there were some patches that narrowed.

She has had to pull over to let tailgating drivers past, some travelling so close she “couldn’t see the number plate”.

“In the last couple of years it seems people are often really impatient,” she said.

“People also don’t always drive with their headlights on.”

She said she had successfully secured federal funding for road upgrades across her Mayor electorate but the allocation for projects was determined by the state government.

She said more overtaking lanes would be welcomed, particularly closer to Cape Jarvis as trucks were first off the ferry to Kangaroo Island.

But she said police could not be everywhere and road safety was “everybody’s responsibility”.

Yankalilla Mayor Darryl Houston said any vehicle accidents in their area always “hits the locals hard” because there was a fear they knew the people involved in the collision.

“This is a tragedy for the local community and we think it’s important that if people have any issues they want to raise with the council – then we are always happy to listen,” Mr Houston said.

“We already have plans in place to create a transport corridor for large vehicles, especially for those commerical vehicles like cattle trucks or timber trucks, by upgrading Range Road.

“That way, these vehicles can sort of pass without entering and exiting the little towns and communities we have around here, and it might just improve overall road safety.”

Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said the Liberals had “for a long time” called for upgrades to South Rd for which federal funding was cut under the Federal Labor Infrastructure Review.