Sergeant Glen Rusten speaks bluntly about the increasing Queensland road toll

After the deaths of two men in crashes in the Wide Bay region, a veteran officer has revealed the traumatic scenes police deal with on a regular basis.

It’s not every day an officer will speak bluntly about picking up body parts after a fatal crash.

But after two horror smashes in the Wide Bay since New Year’s Day and in the wake of last year’s horror road toll, the terrible reality of carnage on the roads has been laid bare by one officer who knows all too well the trauma that it causes.

The devastation caused by fatal crashes on the region’s roads is something Wide Bay Burnett Forensic Crash Unit Sergeant Glen Rusten has seen too much of during his career.

After separate crashes claimed the lives of two men in the Wide Bay region since the beginning of the year, Sgt Rusten and new Wide Bay Superintendent Anne Vogler have both urged motorists to focus on getting to their destination.

It comes after Queensland recorded its worst road toll in more than a decade after 299 were killed on the state’s road in 2022.

On New Year’s Day, North Lakes dad Matt Ward was killed in a crash at Bauple after a crash with a prime mover near Chapman’s Rd.

Matt Ward, 40, died in a crash near Bauple.

The sports nutritionist and personal trainer had just celebrated his birthday days before the fatal crash.

Then on Wednesday, motorcyclist Matthew Alder, from Victoria, was killed in a collision at Childers.

Mr Alder, who was aged in his 50s, died at the scene when his motorcycle collided with a car near the intersection of Old Creek Rd about 3pm.

That followed the tragic death of Gin Gin’s Blake Hogue-Kokles, 28, who was killed when the Honda Civic he was driving collided with a truck on the Bruce Highway at Drinan on Christmas Eve, making for a tragic holiday period across the region.

With gut-wrenching frankness, Sgt Rusten spoke of the horror families and emergency services went through as a result of fatal crashes.

Sergeant Glen Rusten wants drivers to take care.

He had been in that role since 2009 and said it never got easier for first responders.

“No one comes through the other side and actually comes out the same person,” Sgt Rusten said.

“It shatters lives, not only the people involved in the fatal but also the person driving the car, even if it’s not your fault you still have the live with the smells, sounds, the whole impact of the scene is traumatising.

“You just never forget it.”

It could take months or even years for officers to recover from what they saw on the job, he said.

Matthew Alder was killed in a crash at Childers this week.

“The scenes are shocking. For us to go there and pick up body parts on the road, try to identify people, try to put a family back together, the counselling goes on for months if not years after a crash.

Even driving along the highway himself, Sgt Rusten would remember the scene of every fatal, he said, and the names of every person who had died.

He urged drivers to take the necessary amount of care while driving and to stop and consider other road users.

“I ask people to think about their driving,” he said.

Insp Vogler said in the past six days, there had been nine crashes which had caused injuries across the district.

“I’m asking for the community to come together and act responsibly in relation to their driving,” she said.

Insp Vogler said the police were launching Operation Charger to target drink driving in the region, seatbelts and speed in the aftermath of the tragic deaths across the region.

“Road safety starts with you,” she said.