Toowoomba’s catastrophic West St crashes

A deadly stretch of suburban road in Toowoomba has ignited calls for change and outrage from motorists after it became the scene of another catastrophic crash. HAVE YOUR SAY

Queensland Police Service Forensic Crash Unit Generic, South Toowoomba, July 23, 2024. QPS FCU Generic

Motorists have called a busy 600m strip of suburban road that has been the scene of multiple catastrophic and deadly crashes a “death trap”.

Three accidents in two months, a three car-crash with no injuries, one fatal, and one person currently fighting for their life – this has been the 2024 track record of the stretch of West St between South St and Stephen St in Toowoomba’s southwest.

At around 4pm, on June 18, 56-year-old Mike Munro was left with critical injuries which eventually took his life after his motorbike and a Pajero collided at the West and South St intersections.

A fundraiser has been started for the daughters of Toowoomba man Mike Munro, who was seriously injured in a crash on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Picture: GoFundMe

Even more tragically, on the day of his funeral on July 23, a 26-year-old motorcyclist was taken to the PA Hospital with life-threatening injuries after a crash a mere 500m north at the Stephen and West St intersection.

Both crashes unfortunately followed a three-car crash in the middle of morning peak hour traffic at the Stephen St and West St intersection on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, where three men were medically treated but declined transport to hospital.

Motorists across Toowoomba have responded to the news with outrage, demanding action.

“This intersection is a death trap! Something needs to be done about it!” wrote Dan Luxford.

“This corner has had a heap of near misses and accidents,” commented Jesse B Bossin.

“This was really horrific to see,” wrote Melanie Anne Davis.

For the ten-year period between 2013 and 2023, 12 accidents have occurred within this strip, five have had injuries which require hospitalisation, five have needed medical treatment.

Toowoomba’s population is set to surpass 200,000 within the next 10 years.

The city’s main mode of transport is by car, with more than 50 per cent of households owning two or more cars, this means that ensuring safe, forward, and smart planning of our roads into the future is more important than ever before.

Originally published as Toowoomba’s catastrophic West St crashes