Four serious crashes on SA roads – three involving trucks – leave two people dead, man charged over Paringa fatal crash
A man has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after his car rolled over and killed one of his passengers. Charges were laid this morning after a horror 16 hours on SA roads, which saw three crashes involving trucks.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Distraction responsible for more than half of SA road deaths
- See this week’s crime updates in our Police Wrap
A man who allegedly rolled his car over near Renmark, killing one of his passengers, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
The fatal crash happened on the Sturt Highway at Paringa, near Lindsay Point Rd, about 2.45am on Tuesday.
Police have accused the driver, 20, of Davoren Park, of driving dangerously, causing the death of one of his passengers – a 24-year-old Woodville North Man.
Another passenger, 19, also received non life-threatening injuries.
Major Crash officers investigated the scene on Tuesday and have now charged the 20-year-old with causing death by dangerous driving, causing injury by dangerous driving and aggravated driving without due care.
He was refused bail and will appear in the Berri Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon.
The charges were laid after a horrific 16 hours on SA roads, which included three truck smashes.
A truck ploughed through and destroyed a two-storey house on the Fleurieu Peninsula on Tuesday.
n out-of-control truck speared through a house on Carrickalinga Rd, Carrickalinga, demolishing the structure just after 10.30am.
A picture from the scene showed the cabin of the truck wedged under the house.
Police said two men, the driver and passenger in the truck, were trapped for nearly half an hour after debris from the house collapsed on top of the truck’s cabin.
Nobody was inside the house at the time. The men were taken to Flinders Medical Centre with non-life-threatening injuries and investigations continue into the cause of the crash.
It follows other serious crashes involving trucks – a pedestrian was killed when he was hit by a truck on the Port River Expressway, while the driver of a car is fighting for life after colliding with a road train on the Yorke Hwy.
CRASH 1: PORT RIVER EXPRESSWAY
In the first incident, a male pedestrian died after being hit by a truck on the Port River Expressway at Gillman just after 7pm. He died at the scene.
The truck driver was not injured, but emergency services treated him and other drivers in the area for shock.
Police announced on Tuesday night that the man who died was 28 and from Paralowie.
Investigations are ongoing and ask anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
CRASH 2: STURT HIGHWAY
A passenger died in a fatal crash on the Sturt Hwy near Renmark on Tuesday morning.
A car rolled over near Lindsay Point Rd at Paringa about 2.45am.
A passenger in the vehicle died at the scene, while two other occupants, including the driver, were taken to the Riverland General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The male driver, 20, of Davoren Park, was charged over the crash.
CRASH 3: YORKE HIGHWAY
The driver of a Holden sedan was flown to the RAH with critical injuries when his car collided with a truck on the Yorke Hwy, near Port Arthur in the state’s Mid North, just before 5am on Tuesday.
The Holden Commodore was travelling east on the highway, about 17km northwest of Port Wakefield, when he collided head-on with a road train travelling west.
The Commodore driver, a 24-year-old man from Burton, was trapped in the car’s wreckage for more than an hour, before being treated at the scene by a paramedics and airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition.
The truck driver, a 47-year-old man from Henley Beach, was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
CRASH 4: CARRICKALINGA
An out-of-control truck smashed through a house on Carrickalinga Rd, causing it to collapse, just after 10.30am on Tuesday.
The cabin of the truck was wedged under the house.
The driver and passenger in the truck were trapped for nearly half an hour by collapsed debris, but thankfully the house was unoccupied at the time.
SA Police Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said after six fatal crashes in the past week it was concerning drivers were not adhering to safety advice.
Police figures showed more than 3300 people, on average, were being detected every week “doing the wrong thing in their car”.
“The concern for me is that the number of people who are detected doing the wrong thing whether that be speeding … talking on their phone, not wearing a seatbelt or engaging in risky driving behaviour continues to be relatively high,” he said.
“We would love to have the silver bullet that would ring true with people to make them realise the dangers they are causing to themselves and others when driving a car.
“It is a complex task driving a car, so please just drive.”
Police Minister Corey Wingard appealed for people to think about what they were doing.
“You have your hands on a very, very lethal weapon and you must make sure you’re doing the right thing to protect yourself, your family and … those in the community,” he said.
The number of lives lost on SA roads is 47, compared with 46 at the same time last year.
On Sunday, police revealed distraction-related road deaths had spiked to record levels across South Australia, where inattention has contributed to more than half of the lives lost so far this year.
The state’s top traffic cop declared losing focus behind the wheel a significant problem, while urging complacent motorists to take seriously the potentially devastating consequences.