FNQ road toll: 30 die on Far North roads in 2022
Police reveal whether charges have been laid in relation to a crash that killed Cairns chippy Jesse Rodman amid a horror year on FNQ roads that has claimed the lives of 30 people.
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Police are yet to lay charges in relation to a three vehicle crash at Gordonvale that claimed the life of Cairns chippy Jesse Rodman as the Far North district records the greatest number of fatal crashes since 2017.
As of December 4, a weekly fatal road crash report reveals 29 lives were lost since January 1, which amounted to a 61.1 per cent increase when compared with the 2021 figure, when 18 people died on the road.
Killed on December 8, 26-year-old Jesse Rodman became the thirtieth person to have lost his life on Far North roads this year.
Police were wary about outlining the possible cause of the crash near the Sikh temple on Thursday morning due the ongoing nature of the Forensic Crash Unit investigation but didn’t rule out the chance of future charges being laid.
“There are no charges at this stage,” a police spokeswoman told the Cairns Post.
“Forensic Crash Unit investigations are ongoing. It would be inappropriate to comment on any potential cause while investigations are underway.”
A 33-year-old and 48-year-old man remains at Cairns Hospital in stable conditions after the crash – a third man, 28, was discharged on Thursday evening.
Statewide between January 1 and December 4 2022, there were 274 fatalities as a result of crashes, which is eight fatalities greater than the same period for the previous year.
On Friday, Queensland Police launched operation Charger to focus on road safety during the Christmas and New Year period.
The three phase program will focus on random breath testing to detect drink driving, speeding and a return to school blitz to focus on child restraints and speeding in school zones.
Road policing acting chief superintendent Chris Stream said as of Friday morning, the skyrocketing statewide road toll had reached 279.
“I cannot over-estimate the seriousness of that,” he said.
“These are not just statistics, these are people’s lives. These are people that won’t be joining their families throughout the Christmas celebration period.
“This is an absolute tragedy, we are 11 more lives lost than we were for the same period last year.
“Our appeal to all Queenslanders driving on holidays or driving at work, so including those commercial heavy drivers, we are appealing that you pay attention to the road.
“We will do everything in our ability to catch those drivers that are behaving irresponsibly and who are quite frankly are being selfish.”
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Originally published as FNQ road toll: 30 die on Far North roads in 2022
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