Seven dead after two months of death and destruction on Logan roads
These are the faces of those who have died driving on roads in just one part of Queensland in the past two months. Seven men have been killed in just over nine weeks and although none are related, there are some common factors. WATCH THE VIDEO
Logan is coming to grips with another month of tragedy and mayhem on its roads.
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Since the end of April, eight major road incidents have occurred in Logan killing seven men, most under the age of 50.
Utes and trucks were involved in five of eight major accidents in the area.
On Anzac Day, a 43-year-old Holmview man died when his ute slammed into a power pole on Kingston Rd at Waterford West.
His death followed the horrendous incident when a two-year-old boy was hit by a truck and critically injured on Browns Plains Rd at Browns Plains on April 21.
The child survived but had a fractured skull.
Logan City Council refused to drop the speed limit which remains at 70km/h at the intersection with Wembley Rd.
Two weeks later, a 53-year-old man died when his ute crashed into barriers on the Pacific Motorway near the Hyperdome. The man’s details have not been released.
That week, 30-year-old Aaron Young died when he was hit by a truck as he loaded a car on to a trailer in a Beenleigh street.
After his death, the truck hire company organised a free hire car for the family to get to the funeral.
Two men died in a crash at lights at Fletcher Rd and Logan River Rd, Bethania on June 7.
Tupuna Neti Matai Rongo, 37, of Meadowbrook, died in the Princess Alexandra Hospital following the three-car crash.
Mr Rongo, a welder, loved rugby and playing a ukulele and had worked in fencing and the security business. He left behind seven children ranging in age from five to 23.
Ramsay Wells, 54, from Waterford West, was in a white car and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Wells, affectionately dubbed “Rambo”, had just celebrated his son Challenge’s 24th birthday and moved house when he was killed in a the multi-car crash at Bethania.
Two weeks later, the city was again shocked when the motorcycle-loving “joker” Zac Jones died when is black Yamaha and three cars collided at the busy Kingston Rd and Wembley Rd intersection.
The 25-year-old from Waterford West was buried on Tuesday during tough COVID-19 restrictions dictating the number of people at his funeral.
The latest tragedy unfolded when Loganlea dad Slayde Collins, 24, was driving his white HiLux ute with his partner Tamzyn Rodda, 21, and two other women passengers on June 27.
The ute rolled killing Mr Collins who was father to two-year-old Grace.
The sad twist was that one of Mr Collins’s last Facebook posts was to declared his love for his partner and mother of his child Tamzyn Rodda.
Ms Rodda had also updated her Facebook profile on June 1, to include a photo of Mr Collins kissing her cheek.
Ms Rodda is still in intensive care at Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition after the crash.
Friend Aaron Lecomber said he had buried three friends after road tragedies in Logan this month.
He said Mr Collins and Ms Rodda were well known among his friends in Logan and obviously in love.
That love was professed publicly in one of Mr Collin’s last posts on June 8, when he updated his profile photo to one of him with Tamzyn.
“I love you,” she wrote and he replied, “Love you.”
The couple first met in 2017 and then got together shortly after that and moved in together in 2018 before Grace was born.
Mr Lecomber was also friends with Boronia Heights man Aaron Young, who died on a Beenleigh street while loading a car on to a trailer last month.
Friends paid tribute to Mr Young by driving out to open industrial spaces near Ipswich on a Saturday night to do burnouts.
Mr Lecomber was also friends with Mr Jones and had been on road trips to New South Wales together.
Police said the death toll was frightening and unexpected given that many did not drive during the main coronavirus lockdown in April and May.
The state’s road toll rose to 117 this week, 19 more than this time last year.