‘He’s one of ours’: Police confirm man killed in crash from Grafton

VIDEO: Devastating news for local family as police reveal details of crash and warn of the dangers of our country roads.

Police have expressed their condolences to the family of a Grafton man who was killed in a single-vehicle crash near Coutts Crossing on Thursday.

Chief Inspector Jo Reid confirmed the man killed in the crash just north of the Coutts Crossing township was a 40-year-old man from Grafton.

“He’s one of ours, he’s one from our community” she said.

“Our thoughts go out to the family … we’ve had to deliver this horrible news and a family has been torn apart as a result of this collision.”

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal single-vehicle crash near Coutts Crossing on July 22, 2021.

Chief Inspector Reid said the incident occurred around 2.30pm on Thursday afternoon when the man was negotiating a sweeping right hand bend coming out of Coutts.

“For reasons that are still under investigation, he’s left the roadway where he’s travelled a distance before rolling and then the vehicle has landed on its roof.”

Chief Inspector Reid said the man was trapped in the vehicle for a period and bystanders who arrived before emergency services attempted to free the man from the car, but were unable to do so.

“By the time ambulance personnel arrived he was unable to be revived.”

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal single-vehicle crash near Coutts Crossing on July 22, 2021.

Chief Insp Reid said it was a timely reminder that despite the marvellous highway that ran through the Clarence Valley, people had to make sure they did all the right things on our country roads and back roads.

“Regardless of how long you’ve lived in the area, you may know the roads back to front, but it only takes one small error in judgment to occur,” she said.

“Police will be looking at speed as a factor, potentially fatigue or distraction of some type, and those are all things we’ll continue our investigation as we prepare our report for the coroner.”