Second death from fatal crash at bottom of South Eastern Freeway, as Transpacific grounds 2800-truck fleet
THE woman killed in Monday’s horrific freeway crash has been named, as the company that operates the truck involved takes its entire fleet off the road and police appeal for witnesses.
MONDAY’s horrific freeway crash has claimed a second life, as the company which operates the truck involved takes its entire 2800-vehicle fleet off the road.
It comes as police ask for anyone who saw the truck driving down the freeway prior to the crash to contact them, but would not comment on whether defects had been found in the truck.
And Jacqui Byrne, 41, from Ingle Farm, who was driving one of three stationary cars hit by the truck at the Cross Rd/Glen Osmond Rd intersection, died overnight in hospital.
Trucking company Transpacific on Tuesday night announced a voluntary grounding of all its vehicles in the wake of the collision, at about 1.15pm Monday, leading to rubbish collection being halted in some areas of Adelaide.
A Hallett Cove man, 56, died shortly after the crash.
Two others — including the truck driver — are still fighting for their lives and remain in a critical condition at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Today, the TWU said it understood the driver had been in the job for only a week.
Transport Workers Union SA/NT Branch Secretary Ray Wyatt has told Advertiser.com.au the driver, 29, who remains in a critical condition in Royal Adelaide Hospital, had been hired by Transpacific through a labour-hire service.
“That’s my understanding,’’ Mr Wyatt said. “He’d been driving for a very short period of time.’’
Police are investigating brake failure as a possible cause and said the truck driver was likely speeding down the freeway before making a fatal attempted left turn on to Cross Rd.
Inspector Steve Kameniar said police had not yet been able to speak to the driver of the truck, and added it would be inappropriate to speculate on who was at fault while the police investigation was ongoing.
He also would not comment on Transpacific truck records or whether any defects had been founds since the crash.
A report will be prepared for the coroner and Insp Kameniar appealed for any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers.
“Without limiting the scope of the investigation, police are considering the possibility of brake failure as a possible cause of the crash,” he said.
“Investigators would particularly like to speak to any witnesses who may have seen the truck anywhere on the down track of the freeway. That includes from the actual crash site, back to the tunnels and also beyond the tunnels.”
He said he it was not certain where the truck entered the freeway.
“As part of the ongoing investigation police have visited the truck company and inspected a number of vehicles.”
Transpacific CEO Robert Boucher said the company was working closely with the South Australian Police and authorities to assist in their investigations.
“We have provided the South Australian Police with access to our Wingfield fleet and workshop, where they have conducted an assessment of our trucks and maintenance records,” Mr Boucher said.
“We have taken the decision this evening to ground our entire fleet in order to conduct our own internal investigation and satisfy ourselves, the police and regulators of the roadworthiness of our fleet and the adequacy of our maintenance program.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, however we believe it is the right thing to do given the serious nature of Monday’s accident.
“The driver had undergone thorough safety training prior to being cleared to drive our truck. He remains in hospital in a critical condition. Again, we reiterate that our thoughts and sincere condolences are with the family and friends of the deceased.”
Transpacific said it would continue to gather evidence and cooperate with the police and regulators.
The truck driver, a 29-year old Netley man, remained trapped inside the wreckage for almost two hours.
Two other drivers, the now deceased Ingle Farm woman and a Hahndorf woman, 49, were taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition.
SA Police and emergency services — including six ambulance crews, heavy rescue and several fire trucks — attended the scene, which created traffic chaos for several hours.
A crew wearing Hazmat gear had to clean away thousands of litres of effluent that spilt from the truck on to the road.
In a chilling prophecy of the tragic crash, deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel predicted six months ago more would die at the foot of the South Eastern Freeway.
Mr Posnakidis was hit by a truck while he was waiting at a bus stop at the bottom of the South-Eastern Freeway.
The truck driver, Victorian man Daniel Walsh, was given a five-month suspended prison term after pleading guilty to two aggravated counts of driving without due care.
There was “an air of inevitability” that in future another driver of a heavy vehicle travelling at uncontrolled speed would not use the arrester beds and “there will be a repeat of the kind of incident that occurred here, or worse”, Mr Schapel said in February.
Insp Kameniar said major-crash mechanics will conduct a full examination of the truck involved in the smash - a white Isuzu with a blue tanker - but was unable to say how long it could take.
Police also revealed they used a new remotely piloted aircraft which can fly up to 400ft high for the first time on Monday to capture images of the crash site.
‘No silver bullet’ for fixing SE Freeway: Hook
By Andrew Dowdell
FORMER Transport Department chief Rod Hook says there is no “silver bullet” that would prevent further deaths near the foot of the South Eastern Freeway.
Mr Hook, who was dumped as chief executive by Premier Jay Weatherill earlier this year, told The Advertiser a number of projects had previously been considered, including installing concrete bollards at the Cross Rd lights or creating an overpass at the busy intersection.
“You could have the freeway traffic that wants to go down Glen Osmond Rd go up and over the intersection and therefore you work Portrush Rd into Cross Rd,” Mr Hook said. “Or you could have Cross Rd traffic that wants to go into the Freeway to go up and over.
“That would have been the ideal one, this time, because you wouldn’t have cars sitting there at the lights.”
But Mr Hook said while an overpass might stop crashes at the intersection, it could merely “move the problem further down Glen Osmond Rd”.
Mr Hook said the idea of concrete bollards had previously been raised.
“Would a concrete barrier have helped in this instance? I’m not sure you could build a concrete barrier strong enough to stop a truck bursting through it,” he said.
Mr Hook said he was concerned at reports drivers were ignoring the freeway’s arrester beds because of retrieval costs, which sources say can be up to $8000.
“I think it would be unfortunate if you just look at this one incident and come up with a solution to make sure this doesn’t happen again, when there are so many possible scenarios there ... there’s no silver bullet,” the former Transport head said.