Bruce Highway crashes: Mackay district records worst toll in nine years

Booze and drugs are playing a huge role in crashes on the Bruce Highway as the number of road related injuries in the Mackay district climbs to its worst toll in almost a decade.

Booze and drugs are playing a huge role in the number of crashes on the Bruce Highway across the Mackay district as the number of road related injuries has climbed to the worst figure in nine years.

And Mackay police say this is “just unacceptable”.

In 2022 there were 107 hospitalisations from crashes on the Bruce Highway in Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday, which is the second highest toll in 21 years, and a jump from the 89 in 2021 and 79 and 2020.

The highest figure since 2001 was in 2013 when there were 119 crash-related hospitalisations.

The region’s Forensic Crash Unit boss says 2023 is heading in the same direction.

“We did notice that 2022 was the worst year we have had by far for injury and fatal crashes since I have been in this role, which was from July 2017,” Sergeant Michael Hollett said.

“Why that is, we do not know, human behaviour car be extremely hard to anticipate or predict and if we knew why some people drove so recklessly on our roads we could work on a solution.”

There were 22 lives lost in total from 20 crashes across the district in 2022, of that 12 lives were lost in 10 crashes on the Bruce Highway.

Mackay Forensic Crash Unit Officer in Charge Sergeant Michael Hollett says poor driver behaviour is unacceptable. Picture: Lillian Watkins.

“Even with the increase in these injury and fatal crashes, people still seemed to be driving in an irresponsible/dangerous manner, as they kept occurring,” Sergeant Hollett said.

“2023 especially considering the number of fatals since July 1, is heading towards what we experienced in 2022.”

In 2023 there have been 18 lives lost so far from 18 crashes across the district, of that seven occurred on the Bruce Highway.

“Some of the main factors we saw out of 2022 in fatal crashes was alcohol and drug driving,” Sergeant Hollett said.

“The highest reading we got from one fatal crash was over .350 per cent.

“This is just unacceptable as people need to realise that making a decision to drive in this state could have extremely devastating effects on an innocent person.”
Sergeant Hollett said this was something drivers had to be “prepared to live with”.

“Imagine how you would feel if police knocked on your door and told you a loved one, wife, husband, brother, sister, son, daughter had been killed due to the stupid/dangerous actions of another person,” he said.

“Don’t become one of those people we are forced to tell someone else about.”