Families demand action following Bruce Hwy multiple fatal crash

The families of Bruce Hwy crash victims have called for action, saying their loved ones will have lost their lives for nothing if there isn’t change to the notorious highway.

Three people died in a five-vehicle crash near Maryborough in March. Picture: Michael O'connor

Families of people killed on the Bruce Highway say they feel like their loved ones have lost their lives for nothing with 21 lives lost on the dangerous stretch of road in the first eight months of the year.

For Betty Stuart and Jak Mullar – who lost their husband and father respectively to the Bruce – hearing about each death on the notorious highway is akin to a slap in the face and say the state and federal government’s inaction to improve the road is unacceptable.

Pressure is mounting on the government to commit funding and present a long-term solution to save lives and follows a massive chemical explosion caused by a crash south of Gladstone, closing the highway for days and killing a 21-year-old Koongal man.

Truck drivers Daniel Stuart, 50, and Tim Hickey, 62, both died in March at an infamous intersection along the highway in Maryborough, when a car failed to give way, causing the two trucks to collide.

Daniel Stuart was a devoted father and grandfather.

“It is so hard to hear when you just lost your husband, and then you hear all these other folks are in fatalities and they’re still not doing anything – nothing has changed since Daniel was killed on that road,” Ms Stuart said.

“Every time it just brings back the sting and the hurt, the pain I felt when I was just told that Daniel had been killed, because you feel it for the ones that have just lost their family members.”

“I still think that he’s coming home...and maybe when I’m 70 or 90, I’ll finally realise he’s not going to come home.”

Ms Stuart, who resides in Pallara, Brisbane, said she avoids driving the dangerous stretch out of fear for her own safety.

“I won’t go up there. I won’t go past there for the fear that, someone is going to come around the corner, going too fast, and you could be the next person,” she said.

“So people like Daniel, they’ve lost their lives for nothing, because people are still losing their lives on that road.”

Brisbane truck driver Daniel Stuart, 50, was killed on the Bruce Highway while taking lithium batteries from Sydney to Rockhampton.

Tim Hickey was driving a truck loaded with watermelons when the collision happened in March.

Mr Hickey’s stepson Mr Mullar said on that tragic day in March, he didn’t just lose his father but also a bright light in his life, and the pain is never-ending with every fatal on the highway a constant reminder of what his family had lost.

“I am originally from Victoria and I’ve never experienced something like this, I’ve never heard of so many incidents in just a month’s time on the same highway,” he said.

“And to drive past that intersection and see nothing has changed, it hurts me a lot.”

Spending his first Father’s Day without his dad highlighted just how vital change is and Mr Mullar said it was not just the highway that needed improvement, but also driver behaviour.

“I don’t think it’s just the Bruce Highway that is the factor, it’s also the individuals driving the cars and being impatient.

“But without two lanes people will stay frustrated too,” Mr Mullar said.

Tim Hickey and his family

“Sometimes I do feel like giving up, and just being like, okay, they’re not going do anything about it, and we don’t really have a voice.”

Ms Stuart said the Bruce Highway, being just one lane each way, was essentially a country road, and the first steps that need to be taken are making it two lanes and building bypasses for dangerous intersections.

She hoped that as the state barrelled towards an election next month, decisions would be made and their calls would be heard.

“We need to show Australia that our Bruce Highway is the most dangerous highway here, and we’re losing lives, we’re losing our family,” Ms Stuart said.

“Because, until these politicians lose a family member on that Bruce Highway, then only then will they understand the heartbreak.

“And to me, Daniel passing away, he’s lost his life for what? And we suffer for the rest of our lives, but the ones that are in charge of those highways, they just carry on.”