Gold Coast road toll: Number of fatal traffic accidents in 2021 reaches 18

The Gold Coast is on course for a horror 2021 road toll with 18 traffic accident deaths so far.

Keith Woods

@keithjwoods

5 min read

October 25, 2021 - 5:47PM

Gold Coast Bulletin

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THE Gold Coast is on course for a horror 2021 road toll with 18 traffic accident deaths so far.

All up, 14 people had died on roads in the Gold Coast Council area by late September, Bulletin analysis of Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) data shows.

Since then, another man was killed in a single vehicle accident in Advancetown, while three people were killed in a horror smash on the Gold Coast Highway in Arundel.

With 10 weeks left in the year, including the busy Christmas period, it leaves the Gold Coast four short of 2020’s grim total of 22 – one of the worst years on record. In contrast, just 11 people were killed on our roads in 2019.

The figures quoted do not include the Scenic Rim or Tweed regions.

Of those killed so far this year, eight were drivers, three were passengers, four were motorbike riders, two were pedestrians and one was a cyclist. The ages of those killed ranged from 19 to 90.

The high number of deaths means the Gold Coast again ranks in the top ten most dangerous regions in Australia. Last year the city was rated equal fifth worst with Townsville.

The figures come as a survey by insurer Budget Direct revealed 64 per cent of Australians have been involved in at least one car accident.

Budget Direct’s Jonathan Kerr said: “The chances of being involved in a car accident are very high and we all need to do our part to help reduce the road toll by avoiding driving behaviours such as speeding, drink driving, driving while being fatigued or being distracted while driving.”

Data by the insurer also showed eight per cent of drivers admitted to getting a speeding fine in the last 12 months.

The rate of speeding fines issued was double for drivers aged between 18-24 at 16.3 per cent. Far fewer older drivers indicated they had been fined, with just 4.1 per cent of 55-64 year olds admitting they had received a ticket.

Queensland Police Acting Inspector Sonna Stewart pleaded with drivers to make better decisions behind the wheel: “Every crash could have been avoided. Police need you to help stop families being destroyed. We’ll never have a police car on every road. Road safety is as much your (drivers’) responsibility as it is ours.”

GOLD COAST ROAD DEATHS

2021: 18 SO FAR

2020: 22

2019: 11

2018: 17

WORST REGIONS FOR ROAD FATALITIES IN 2020

1. WIDE BAY (QLD): 45

2. LATROBE - GIPPSLAND (VIC): 28

3. CAPITAL REGION: 24

4. SOUTH AUSTRALIA - SE (SA): 23

5. GOLD COAST (QLD): 22

5. TOWNSVILLE (QLD): 22

CAUGHT ON CAMERA: MOST TERRIFYING MOMENTS ON M1 MOTORWAY

The M1 motorway is scene of regular accidents which frequently cause serious injuries and hours-long tailbacks.

Most badly affected is the northern Gold Coast section between Pimpama and exit 66, where the M1 meets the Smith St motorway – itself the scene of some hair-raising incidents.

Speeding and inattention are blamed by police for many of the crashes.

On average, 56 people are killed and 317 seriously injured each year on Queensland roads as a result of speed-related crashes.

Launching a road safety campaign last month, Assistant Commissioner Ben Marcus said as Queensland continued on a trajectory to its worst year on the roads in more than a decade, the QPS was pleading with the public to make better decisions behind the wheel.

“Your actions behind the wheel are your responsibility and can have very serious consequences,” he said.

“We are asking you to take that responsibility very seriously.”

These are some of the most shocking moments caught on camera recently on the M1 and surrounding roads.

OUT OF CONTROL UTE

Video shared to Dash Cam Owners Australia showed a black ute clipping another vehicle at speed on the M1 before losing control and crashing into guard rails on the median strip.

The incident happened in late September near Exit 66.

CHANGE OF MIND CALAMITY

This video, also recorded in September and shared to Dash Cam Owners Australia, shows a driver striking another vehicle after a late change of mind about joining the M1.

The driver’s ute ran into the side of a black SUV after leaving a turning lane to instead head towards Mudgeeraba village.

SMITH ST SCARE

A driver had a lucky escape after losing control on Smith St, sending their vehicle flying through a grass strip and spiralling across two lanes where traffic merges from the M1.

Two street signs were knocked out in the incident, which was captured on footage shared to Dash Cam Owners Australia at the start of September.

The cause of the accident is not known.

WHEN TRUCKS COLLIDE

Footage published to Facebook by Roadside Towing showed the frightening moment a truck and gas tanker collided on the M1 at Pimpama in late August.

The crash caused gravel to spill, forcing three lanes to shut, and causing massive tailbacks on the motorway that lasted for most of the day.

SPARKS FLY IN DRAMATIC CRASH

Shocking footage, captured by a security guard from Gold Coast Patrol Dogs K9, showed the moment an allegedly stolen vehicle hit another car on the M1 at Oxenford in February, forcing them into opposite directions and sending sparks flying.

Three teens were allegedly seen fleeing the vehicle while a man, 56, was injured and taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.

FIERY INFERNO AFTER CAR AND VAN COLLIDE

A fiery crash on the M1 in November 2019 caused traffic delays, but miraculously no one was seriously hurt.

Members of the public stepped in to keep drivers safe after the collision between a car and van near the Bermuda St offramp at Burleigh Heads sparked the frightening inferno.

TERROR AT THE TUNNEL

Frightening footage showed the moment a car was sent into a wall after being rear-ended at speed at the entrance to the Tugun bypass tunnel.

The driver of the car responsible allegedly failed to stop after the incident.

CHAOS AT NOTORIOUS INTERSECTION

Shocking video showed an accident involving three vehicles at one of the Gold Coast’s most notorious M1 intersections.

The video, shared to Dash Cam Owners Australia, showed a car losing control and careening into the path of passing vehicles after being caught unawares by traffic queuing to leave the motorway at Exit 57 in Oxenford.