Wide Bay roads grimly dubbed most dangerous for drivers
The spiralling death toll in Wide Bay has earned the region’s roads the title of ‘most dangerous’ in Qld, as we reveal the many beloved faces and stories of those lost to the carnage already this year. VIDEO, PHOTOS.
Bundaberg
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Wide Bay Burnett has alarmingly become known for having the most dangerous roads for drivers in Queensland; the region has already recorded 14 road fatalities this year, giving it the highest death toll in the state.
During the same period last year, there were 11 road fatalities in what would become Queensland’s deadliest year for accidents in 15 years.
More than 300 people lost their lives on Queensland roads in 2024, and countless families mourn after what police have described as avoidable outcomes.
Wide Bay Police Superintendent Anne Vogler said the number was concerning and saddening.
“Speeding, drink and drug driving, failing to wear seatbelts and driving while tired or distracted are all proven contributors to serious and fatal traffic crashes,” she said
All are completely avoidable yet can have a life-changing impact.”
At the time of the Ms Vogler's statement ahead of the Easter holidays, 69 lives had been lost on Queensland roads this year. That number has now risen to 89.
Since the beginning of 2025, a total of 957 offences related to unlawful use of a motor vehicle and traffic offences have been issued across the Wide Bay, prompting police to ramp up their presence.
Over the Easter break, police committed to a number of road safety operations, one of them dubbed Operation X Ray Nitrox involved the breath testing of more than 5000 drivers.
Over the holidays, highway patrol units saturated roads in and around Gympie, Maryborough and Bundaberg, and issued more than 247 traffic infringement notices for offences including failing to wear a seatbelt, speeding, drink and drug driving, use of unregistered vehicle, defective vehicles, and learner drive motor vehicle not under direction of authorised supervisor or not seated next to supervisor.
Tragically, three more lives have been lost on Wide Bay roads since the holidays ended and school started back.
On April 26, 50-year-old Marcus Haworth from Bucca was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a ute west of Bundaberg.
Emergency services responded to calls of a vehicle and motorcycle crash on Cedars Road, near the Cedars Road Bridge in South Kolan about 9.50am, Friday, April 26.
Mr Haworth had been riding a 2010 Harley Davidson when it collided with a Holden Colorado. Tragically, he died at the scene.
Later that same evening, a 46-year-old Gayndah man was killed in a single-vehicle rollover in the North Burnett.
A Toyota LandCruiser travelling on Gayndah Mount Perry Road left the road and rolled down an embankment.
Three days later, on Tuesday, April 29, beloved Bundaberg man Matty Nilsen was killed in a tragic hit-and-run while cycling in Millbank.
Police allege on that Tuesday evening, the father of three was hit by a black Hyundai IX35 on Takalvan St in Millbank, about 7.50pm.
Lachlan Carver, a 21-year-old Norville man has since been charged with the fatal hit-and-run and will appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on July 13.
These tragedies occurred after a spate of fatal crashes over the holidays.
While police rolled out their road operations, four lives were lost in four days in three separate incidents at Grosvenor, Biggenden and Goomeri.
A 61-year-old Monto man died after the large truck he was driving overturned on the Burnett Highway at Grosvenor early on Wednesday, March 19.
Emergency services were called to the scene, just north of Mesners Road, around 4.45am, and the highway was shut down.
Traffic diversions were put in place and motorists were urged to proceed with care.
On March 20, a Murgon woman died and her husband was critically injured, and later died, in a horror crash near Goomeri.
The 78-year-old Murgon man and a 71-year-old Murgon woman were driving along the infamous Wide Bay Hwy when their car smashed into a tree about 5km east of Goomeri.
The woman died at the scene, while the man was flown to Royal Brisbane Hospital with life-threatening neck, chest and arm injuries but tragically died of his injuries three days later on March 23.
Hervey Bay’s Robert Glock was killed in a three-vehicle crash at Biggenden on March 22, 2025.
Police and emergency services were called to Rollison Creek Bridge on Maryborough-Biggenden Rd shortly after 9.30am following reports of a crash involving a motorcycle and two vehicles.
Friends and family gathered for a funeral celebrating the 74-year-old’s life.
His daughter said: “Dad was an icon in his own right... a fantastic father and grandfather who taught us common sense”.
Less than a week later, on March 28, 2025, a 56-year-old father and grandfather died at the scene of a horror crash in Glenorchy.
John Southern was killed when a white Isuzu D-Max travelling north on the Bruce Highway collided with his grey Toyota HiLux travelling south near Six Mile Road.
Mr Southern, the driver and sole occupant of the HiLux, died at the scene.
A 70-year-old Caboolture man, the driver and sole occupant of the Isuzu D-Max, was taken to Hervey Bay Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Supt Vogler urged drivers to play their part to limit road trauma for both victims’ families and emergency services.
“Each death has an impact on the community,” she said.
She said the Wide Bay police district remained focused on limiting road trauma and deaths in the region in the form of “visible proactive patrols on the highway or the beach”, as well as educational workshops at schools with officers.
“Police will continue to work towards limiting road trauma, but this is a community issue that requires assistance from all who use our roads,” she said.
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