Krystal Evans and Lisa Hau victims of remarkably similar tragedies

Two young northern Gold Coast mums with everything to live for. Two achingly similar tragedies that ended their lives. And they won’t be the last. This is why.

This column does not know if Krystal Evans and Lisa Hau knew each other.

But they could easily have been friends.

They both lived in the northern Gold Coast, had children, and were around the same age.

And both met eerily similar fates, in the same area, at a similar time of night.

Ms Hau, a mother of three young boys, was 29 when she died. She was a passenger on a motorbike ridden by a 33-year-old man that crashed into a metal fence on Discovery Drive in Helensvale at 2.20am on January 10, 2019.

The bike was not stolen – that’s important to note – but it was driving fast.

Lisa Hau, who was killed in a motorbike accident on Discovery Drive in Helensvale in the early hours of January 10, 2019.

Locals who were woken by the crash and rushed to help found a confronting scene.

“I can still see the pictures,” neighbour Gary Appleby said at the time.

“There were body parts … I checked his pulse but he was obviously deceased, then I saw the girl further away.

“It gives me the shakes, it was a violent death, it was horrible, a lot of people who had come out to help were very upset.”

Krystal Evans, who was killed in a motorbike accident on Helensvale Rd in the early hours of November 26, 2022.

Krystal Evans, 35, passed the scene of that terrible event at about 1.30am on Saturday morning.

She too was a passenger on a motorbike. The full details of what happened are yet to be determined. But according to the initial police account, the bike was stolen, and was seen driving down Discovery Drive at high speed.

A police officer activated the vehicle’s warning lights and attempted to intercept the motorbike, however it took off.

The same officer found the bike crashed a short distance away on Helensvale Road, after an accident that – in a sad indictment of what happens on our roads at night – may also have involved a ute being driven by a man allegedly more than four times over the limit.

The driver of the motorbike, 36-year-old Tony Charlwood from Oxenford, was found dead.

So too was Krystal.

Flowers at the Helensvale Rd scene where Tony Charlwood and Krystal Evans died on Saturday morning. Picture: Keith Woods.

Floral tributes now lie at the place where the pair died.

Despite the passing traffic and the rumble of the nearby M1, fringed by bushland, it’s a beautiful spot.

In some ways, it’s very hard to believe it was the scene of such horrors.

But people who live nearby are not surprised.

Residents living in houses along Discovery Drive say the sound of speeding vehicles at night is all too common. They live in fear of the next accident, the sound of sirens, the screams.

It’s a tale with echoes in numerous locations across the Gold Coast.

The area around Guineas Creek Rd in Elanora is another hot spot. Locals have told this column it is like a “speedway” after dark, with multiple nasty accidents recorded in just the last few weeks.

The problem is so bad one resident even erected a fake speed camera on his property.

At least he was trying to do something to make people slow down. Though given the volume of early morning accidents in the area, we can say it has had little effect.

Police at the scene on the accident at Helensvale Rd on Saturday. Picture: 7News.

The hard part is knowing what would make a difference.

Locals often say that police need to do more. But they’re in an almost impossible situation.

There seems little deterrent for those who speed our streets after dark.

“People think we’re not doing anything but we are, we’re catching them every night,” one officer told this column recently when speaking about the nightly headache of stopping car thieves and hoons. “Trouble is, they just get let out again.”

In fairness to police, it’s also worth noting the degree to which these problems escalated when so many were stuck at the border and quarantine hotels. Sometimes you only realise how much someone was doing when they are no longer there.

Important work as it is, what police achieve, though, is just a short term, in-the-moment solution.

They catch offenders, but the next night they must do it all over again.

The scene of the accident on Discovery Drive that claimed the life of Lisa Hau in January 2019. Picture: Tali Eley

It appears no amount of fines or licence suspensions or court appearances will encourage some people to slow down.

The people who enjoy the thrill of speeding around suburban streets at night.

If only they could see what happens when it all goes dreadfully wrong.

The desperately sad scenes that confronted Discovery Drive residents on a terrible night in January 2019. And what a lone police officer saw at Helensvale Rd on the weekend.

If only they could see the grief of the family and friends of Lisa Hau and Krystal Evans, two vibrant young mothers who had so much to live for and were clearly very much loved.

Who could have been friends, but instead were united by the eerie similarity of their untimely ends.

Follow @keithjwoods

Originally published as Krystal Evans and Lisa Hau victims of remarkably similar tragedies