Darling Downs roads see haemorrhage of single, multi-vehicle crashes

Emergency crews have witnessed a state of bedlam on our regions roads, following a series of crashes including two fatal incidents. See the latest here.

The aftermath of separate horror crashes that took the lives of a Darling Downs man and woman has left loved ones heartbroken and road fatality statistics rise.

Sunday’s foreboding tragedies, which occurred within a matter of hours of another and a mere 23km apart, embed a stark reminder for road users to consider the fatal five.

Queensland Police Forensic Crash Investigation Unit are continuing their investigations to determine the cause of the separate incidents.

The first claiming the life of a 72-year-old Goombungee man, who is believed to have lost control of his utility while travelling along an unpaved road 32km west of Toowoomba Sunday morning.

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal crash on Kingsthorpe-Silverleigh Rd, Silverleigh, Sunday, June 9, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

A second, claiming the life of a 68-year-old Kingsthorpe woman when her Mazda 2 hatchback collided with a livestock truck impacting nearby powerlines in its wake, on the Warrego Highway 21km west of Toowoomba just before 2pm on Sunday.

Emergency services at the scene of a serious crash on the Warrego Highway, east of Oakey, Sunday, June 9, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

It is unknown the number of livestock on board and if any were injured.

POLICE, FIRST RESPONDERS PLEA TO DRIVERS

One of the first responders on scene at the Silverleigh crash, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services inspector Stewart Lange called on road users to be more vigilant.

“Make sure you are driving to the conditions of the road and no matter how many times you drive on that road, you drive the same to it,” he said.

Darling Downs roads have now seen more than half a dozen road accidents in a matter of days.

A truck carrying a dog trailer has crashed through a guard rail and rolled on its side on the Cunningham Highway, 20kms west of Warwick. Photo: Warwick Daily News

On the Southern Downs, police responded to multiple crashes on Friday alone, with Warwick acting officer in charge Shane Reid pleading to road users to take more care.

“Police strongly remind motorists to drive according to the road and weather conditions and obey the fatal five contributing factors when behind the wheel,” he said.

IDENTIFYING QLD’S ‘WORST ROADS’

With the increasing number of incidents on our state’s roads, RACQ has opened their biannual Unroadworthy Roads Survey encouraging Queenslanders to help identify risky roads.

The 2022 data identified a number of Darling Downs roads including the Cunningham Highway between Willowbank and Warwick, Warrego Highway between Dalby and Roma, and New England Highway from Toowoomba to the NSW-border.

RACQ head of public policy Dr Michael Kane said the results would be analysed and passed on to road authorities and politicians to help prioritise upgrades.

“Every driver is familiar with frustrating roads they come across on their daily commute

or weekend road trip and we need their local knowledge and eyes on the ground to

help us with this survey,” Dr Kane said.

“It could be a road that’s full of potholes, has narrow lanes, lacks overtaking lanes, has

missing or faded line markings, or floods easily.”

The road survey is open to the public until July 3 and can be accessed here.

Originally published as Darling Downs roads see haemorrhage of single, multi-vehicle crashes