Gympie road toll: six killed on region’s roads so far

Three horrific deaths at Wolvi are among the tragic losses of local loved ones that have contributed to a 22% rise in the Queensland road toll this year

A number of Gympie residents have lost their lives on the region’s country roads this year in what has been described as a horrific start to the 2021 road toll.

Queensland roads have been an horrific place for emergency services this year with a shocking 22 per cent increase in the number of fatalities recorded.

Six of the 93 people killed have lost their lives on Gympie region country roads, including a tragic double fatality at Wolvi that claimed the lives of two teenage boys.

The state’s road toll in 2021 has been so bad police have made several pleas for drivers and motorbike riders to take extra care and change their attitude to driving on Queensland’s roads.

These are the tragic accidents that have rocked the community in 2021.

Chatsworth bike crash

Glenwood’s Matthew Barrett was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a vehicle on the morning of January 16, 2021.

Matthew Barrett .

The 29-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on Old Maryborough Road.

Wolvi school bus crash

Twenty-nine-year-old Josiah William Stevens was the passenger in a 4WD when it crashed into a school bus at the intersection of Kin Kin and Wilson Pocket roads in the early afternoon of March 16, 2021.

Josiah Stevens.

The driver, Mr Stevens’s 68-year-old father Alan, was flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition.

The driver of the bus was hailed a hero for her quick thinking and life saving skills in plunging the bus into an embankment beside the road, and preventing any serious harm to the students.

Horror double fatality

Gympie teenagers and friends Rykah Burr and Zac Moye tragically died in the days following an horrific accident where their car slammed into a tree on a rural Wolvi road on the night of April 11, 2021.

Rykah Burr and Zac Moye.

They were driving along Vines Road at 8pm when they crashed.

The pair was flown to separate Brisbane hospitals but unfortunately died within 24 hours of each other.

Brooweena bridge tragedy

Biggenden mother Kirsty Spry was killed in early March when her BMW collided with a truck and flipped off the Brooweena Bridge near Eaton Road.

Kirsty Spry.

Ms Spry had to be freed from her vehicle and flown to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, but sadly died on the morning of March 11, 2021.

Imbil truck fatal

An unidentified 50-year-old Glenwood man was killed on February 1, when his truck crashed through a guardrail and rolled off Yabba Creek Road in the early afternoon.

Police said the cab of the truck was crushed and the man died instantly.