Road safety investigation: Fatalities, roadworks and school zones won’t slow speed demons

DESPITE a horror run of fatalities on Central Coast roads, the majority of motorists continue speed. Richard Noone and Matt Taylor’s special investigation using a speed gun to clock motorists.

A motorist was clocked travelling at 84.6km/h in a 50km/h zone on Tuesday afternoon on Willoughby Rd, Wamberal, just metres away from where teenager Jackson Williams was tragically killed on July 17. Picture: Mark Scott

• Pedestrian killed at Terrigal
• Husband’s tribute to ‘beautiful soul’
• Driver in court over Terrigal fatal
• ‘He was sporty, funny and smart’

ARMED with a speed gun the Express Advocate did exclusive tests on Tuesday afternoon revealed motorists travelling well in excess of the 50km/h limit at two known Central Coast black spots.

One driver was clocked doing a whopping 84.6km/h on Willoughby Rd at Wamberal where teenager Jackson Williams tragically died on July 17. And at the Scenic Highway at Terrigal where Annabelle Deall was killed last month one driver was clocked travelling more than 20km/h above the limit.

This motorist was clocked at 70.2km/h out the front of The Cowrie restaurant along Scenic Highway where mum of four Annabelle Deall was killed on August 6. Picture: Mark Scott

Alarming results were also uncovered when motorists were put to the test with the speed gun at roadwork and school zones.

It has been a horror year on Coast roads with 15 deaths since January. An 83-year-old man was the latest to lose his life when his car hit a power pole on Wallarah Rd, Gorokan, on Wednesday afternoon. There is no suggestion this accident was speed-related.

Central Coast physiotherapist and mum of four young boys, Annabelle Deall, was killed on Scenic Highway on August 6.

Academy of Road Safety director Ron Shah said there was no such thing as “safe speeding” and the difference of just a few kilometres an hour could mean life or death.

Almost 75 per cent of motorists were clocked travelling above the speed limit on Tuesday afternoon on Scenic Highway out the front of The Cowrie restaurant. Picture: Mark Scott

“The problem when you go from 60km/h to 65km/h is if a child (steps out) and you hit the brakes, you’ve probably slowed to 40km/h from 60km/h but 50km/h from 65km/h,” he said.

“If you hit a child at 40km/h they’re going to have injuries but at 50km/h they will probably die.”

Annabelle Deall on her wedding day.

While the average speed was just 54km/h at the Scenic Highway, the majority of motorists — almost 75 per cent — were clocked above the limit with 14 motorists going fast enough to earn themselves three demerit points and a $254 fine had we been the police.

Simon Deall, 32, was comforted by family and friends at the funeral service of his beloved wife Annabelle Deall. Picture: Peter Clark

And this was on a regular sunny Tuesday afternoon at a time when there were plenty of vehicles and people about.

In the 30 minutes this newspaper was there, one motorcycle rider almost got himself cleaned up after he failed to check before turning right out of Bellevue Cres on to the highway.

But even he did not seem to learn from the near miss, returning a few minutes later along the Scenic Highway where he was clocked going 65km/h — 15km/h over the limit — at the very spot where he was nearly struck.

It was the same story at Willoughby Rd where a staggering 95 per cent of motorists were clocked over the signposted 50km/h.

Jackson Williams was tragically killed when a car left the road and collided with a power pole on Willoughby Rd, Wamberal, on July 17. Picture: Digicrew Australia

While 58 per cent were less than 10km/h over, 32 per cent were going fast enough to pick up three demerit points, a further two motorists could have earned four points and $436 fines, and one could have been off the road for an automatic minimum period of three months and $835 worse off.

Proving why they are over-represented in crash statistics one red P-plater was clocked going 63.9km/h heading into the notorious “dip” of the causeway adjacent to Breakers Country Club only to accelerate to 69.3km/h as they exited the other side.

There were 57 motorists clocked travelling over the speed limit on Willoughby Rd, Wamberal, in a 30-minute period on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Mark Scott

Results from the school zone on Tumbi Rd outside Wamberal Public were equally concerning with a dismal 43 out of 48 motorists failing to travel at or below the 40km/h limit.

Eight drivers were recorded travelling between 10-20km/h over the limit — risking four demerits and $327 fines — and three were clocked 20km/h over the limit, which could have seen them slapped with five demerits and $545 fines.

Wamberal Public School mum Belinda Bullivant said a lack of off-street parking meant children and cars ran a twice-daily gauntlet.

Parents are concerned about speeding motorists on Tumbi Rd, Wamberal. Picture: Mark Scott

“It’s quite dangerous,” Ms Bullivant said. “They just keep flying through here.”

DRIVERS UNDETERRED WHEN IT COMES TO ROADWORKS

IF the threat of harsher penalties, flashing signs and the risk of taking out a child has motorists on the brakes in school zones, when it comes to roadworks, drivers could not give a stuff.

A motorist is clocked travelling at 62.8km/h along roadworks on Enterprise Drive, Chittaway Bay. Picture: Mark Scott

That was the glaring conclusion to come from the Express Advocate’s speed gun test on Tuesday afternoon which found the average speed of motorists was 54.8km/h or nearly 15km/h over the signposted limit.

In just 20 minutes nearly 93 per cent of drivers were clocked over the 40km/h roadworks limit on Enterprise Drive at Chittaway Bay as they approached the intersection of Wyong Rd.

The $28 million upgrade of the intersection is one of the biggest single roadworks currently under way on the Coast and arguably one of the most involved for drivers with 16 lanes converging from four directions and conditions, including turning lanes, changing on an almost daily basis.

There was an alarming number of motorists speeding through roadworks on Enterprise Drive, Chittaway Bay, on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Mark Scott

The roundabout is one of three major upgrades along Wyong Rd including the intersection of Tumbi Rd, which Roads and Maritime Services data shows has 48,000 vehicle movements a day.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Command Senior Sergeant Rob Lawson said the road network had grown so large it was impossible for police “to be on every street and corner” so he urged people to think of all road users and “drive as a community”.

“A crash between two cars at 54km/h is not going to be that catastrophic,” he said.

“But if one of those cars going 54km/h crashes with a pedestrian, who is just going about his work, it is going to be catastrophic.”

Sen-Sgt Lawson said the lives of construction workers should not be put at risk by speeding drivers.

“A man working unguarded, wearing just a hi-vis vest and steel capped boots might not be fully aware of what’s happening around him (because) he’s concentrating on what he’s doing,” he said.

TEST RESULTS

Scenic Highway, Terrigal

●Speed limit: 50km/h

●Total vehicles checked: 82 (over 30 mins from 1.15pm-1.45pm)

●Number speeding: 61 (74.4%)

●Top speed detected: 70.2km/h

Willoughby Rd, Wamberal

●Speed limit: 50km/h

●Total vehicles checked: 60 (30 mins, 2pm-2.30pm)

●Number speeding: 57 (95%)

●Top speed: 84.6km/h

Roadworks zone, Enterprise Drive, Chittaway Bay

●Speed limit: 40km/h

●Total vehicles checked: 53 (over 20 mins from 3.50pm-4.10pm)

●Number speeding: 49 (92.5%)

●Top speed: 68.9km/h

School zone, Tumbi Rd, Wamberal

●Speed limit: 40km/h

●Total vehicles checked: 48 (over 25 mins from 2.45pm-3.10pm)

●Number speeding: 43 (89.6%)

●Top speed: 68km/h