12 lives lost in 21 days: Qld Police issue plea to road users

Police have urged motorists to think of “more than just themselves” after Queensland recorded 12 road deaths in the first 21 days of the year, as they reveal the staggering number of speeding fines they’ve issued in just three weeks.

Twelve people have died on Queensland’s roads in the past three weeks and 580 others were seriously injured in what authorities have labelled a “tragic” start to the year.

Acting Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder said police had also issued thousands of fines to “selfish” motorists who needed to think about more than just themselves.

“What disturbs myself most about those figures is that since the 1st of January this year police have issued over 5200 speeding fines,” Supt Rohweder said.

“Nearly 350 drug drivers have been arrested and nearly 600 drink drivers have been arrested during that time. I just consider those figures completely unacceptable.”

Jaycob Young was tragically killed in a crash on Monday night. Picture: Facebook

In the past week alone, Queensland has lost five people on the roads including two teenagers.

Jaycob Young, 19, died when his ute collided head on with a truck on the Cunningham Hwy late Monday night.

Mr Young was just minutes from home when he drove head first into the oncoming semi-trailer while trying to overtake another truck in Warrill View.

Castor Zabala, 17, could not be saved despite the best efforts of witnesses and paramedics after his car slid and crashed last Friday at Rosemount, on the Sunshine Coast.

The Nambour State College graduate’s life was cut short days after he was progressing his application for the Australian Defence Force.

Their deaths follow a horror year, with 274 road users losing their lives in 2021 including a “shocking” 66 riders and pillion passengers along with 18 pedestrians, nine cyclists and 181 drivers and passengers.

Supt Rohweder said the fatal five – speeding, fatigue, distraction, drug and drink driving and not wearing a seatbelt – played a role in all of the road deaths this year.

“I’ve looked at every single one of those 12 fatalities and I can tell you that the fatal five absolutely features in each and every single one of those,” he said.

Acting Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder. Picture: Liam Kidston.

“It’s not an act of god, it’s not some accident it’s a traffic crash caused as a result of someone doing the wrong thing.”

RACQ’s head of public policy Susan Furze said it was a “tragic” to have so many lives lost so soon into 2022.

She said while human error was the leading cause of crashes, she also believed more needed to be done to upgrade regional roads.

“Four of the crashes to date in 2022 have been on regional roads, now regional roads aren’t always as safe. They are not as forgiving of human error,” she said.

“So in addition to needing motorists to take accountability … we do need continued investment in roads and road upgrades to reduce the road toll and reduce road trauma.”