Death toll climbs

CATHY Rowe, 48, died in Townville Hospital from serious head injuries at the weekend, a month after being run over while trying to cross Shakespeare Street.

THE mangled four-wheel-drive in which a 51-year-old man died in a three-vehicle crash on the Peak Downs Highway near Nebo on February 11. The driver of the four-wheel drive was killed when his vehicle and a fuel tanker collided head-on. A ute then collided with the wreckage.

CATHY Rowe, 48, had a busy morning ahead of her as she crossed Shakespeare Street in heavy rain at 5.30am.

Ms Rowe was heading to the home of her disabled daughter, Vicky Giles, whom she cared for full-time.

She had to get her grandchildren - two girls, aged seven and eight - ready for school before going shopping for Easter eggs with her daughter.

But Ms Rowe never made it to the other side of Shakespeare Street.

She was hit by a ute as she crossed at the traffic lights.

At the weekend, a month on from the accident, Ms Rowe died in Townville Hospital from her serious head injuries.

She is the 16th person to die on Mackay region's roads this year.

That is the same number of people who died on our region's roads last year - and we are only five months into 2009.

Ms Rowe died late Sunday night, yesterday her family were making arrangements for her funeral in Townsville.

Ms Giles' aunt, Rose Herrigan, said Ms Rowe's death was tough for the struggling family.

“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Ms Herrigan said.

The driver of the utility, a 31-year-old man, was not injured in the accident.

A police spokesman said initial investigations suggested that heavy rain and crossing against a red pedestrian symbol might have been contributing factors to the crash, however the forensic crash unit was continuing to investigate.

Police and emergency personnel are dismayed and frustrated by the high fatality rate on the Mackay region's roads.

Acting Senior Sergeant Shane Edwards said the overall accident rate was down three per cent on last year, however people were more likely to die in crashes.

Multiple deaths at individual accidents have contributed to the high fatality rate. On February 8, five overseas tourists died in one fiery crash on the Bruce Highway near St Lawrence when a campervan and sedan collided head-on and burst into flames.

Three Italian tourists, Lorenzo Ferrarini, 28, Tatiana Corsari, 23, and Stefania Capussela, 24, died along with two men, also overseas tourists, travelling in the sedan. The driver of the campervan, Carlotta Bettini, 25, survived.

On April 12, a mother and son, 51 and 21, died when the vehicle in which they were driving collided with a ute at the intersection of Braeside Road and the Peak Downs Highway.

February and April were the worst months; six people died in February and five people died in April. In March, three people died in the space of a week. Act Snr Sgt Edwards said the 'Fatal Four'- speeding, drinking, fatigue and not wearing a seatbelt - continued to be the major factors behind the high fatality rate.

Originally published as Death toll climbs