Single-vehicle crash at Mingbool near Mount Gambier claims life of 21-year-old man

Flowers have been laid at the scene of a crash that killed a 21-year-old man on Saturday night – as emergency services revealed the unusual way they first learned of the tragedy.

A touching collection of flowers, Mazda memorabilia and other keepsakes have been laid at the site of the car crash that tragically killed a 21-year-old man from Mount Gambier last night.

Wild weather and severe thunderstorms didn’t stop members from Mount Gambier and surrounding communities from visiting the site of the crash to pay their respects to the young life lost.

A mix of store-bought and home-grown bouquets lined the base of the tree that the young man collided with.

Visitors frequented the site throughout the day, some staying for almost an hour with their friends and families offering each other support.

The crash occurred at a bend in Peweena Rd, Mingbool – north of Mount Gambier – just a few hundred metres from the Kentish Rd intersection.

The victim’s vehicle has been removed from the scene, but tyre marks, small bits of debris and the flowers remain as reminders of the tragedy.

The stretch of Peweena Rd between Kentish and Kirby roads, where the crash occurred, is still closed but that hasn’t stopped people passing by the site to pay their respects to the young life lost.

Emergency services were called to Peweena Rd about 9.45pm on Saturday after reports a Mazda ute had left the road and crashed into a tree.

The young driver, who was the only occupant in the car, died at the scene.

A spokesman for SA Police said they were first notified of the crash through an Apple alert and by a neighbour living near the scene.

Flowers left at the scene of a fatal accident at Peweena Rd, Mingbool. Picture: Jessica Dempster

According to Apple, certain iPhone or Apple watches have an in-built “Crash Detection” feature that helps users connect to emergency services through the automated “Emergency Call”.

The feature is designed to detect severe crashes for cars such as “sedans, mini-vans, SUVs, utes and other passenger cars.”

Once a user’s device has detected impact including “front, side rear-end collisions, rollovers,” an alarm will sound with an alert displayed by the device.

If users do not dismiss the alert or choose to call emergency services by sliding the “emergency call” button after 20 seconds, an automatic call is placed to emergency services.

An alert is also sent to the selected emergency contacts, along with the location of the crash.

Those devices include the iPhone 14 or later models and Apple Watch Series 8 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and the Apple Watch Ultra or later with watchOS 9 or later.

This latest tragedy is the second of 2024, and follows the death of a 55-year-old local man at East Moonta on Wednesday, January 3.

Just after 3pm, police and ambulance crews were called to Duncan St after a car left the road and crashed into a fence.

Major Crash investigators were at the scene and a police spokeswoman said the man may have suffered a medical episode while driving.

There were 117 road fatalities in 2023.