Fears someone will die at notorious Coast junction

Gold Coast motorists who say they are dicing with death at a crash-prone junction are urging a quick fix for a “blind spot” before someone is killed.

GOLD Coast motorists who say they are dicing with death at a crash-prone T junction are urging a quick fix for the “blind spot” before a fatality.

Drivers have been posting online about the increasing frequency of shocking collisions at the Northern Gold Coast corner of Tillyroen and Upper Ormeau roads in the past few months.

Contributors to the Ormeau Community Group Facebook page have detailed a spate of crashes at the intersection on April 19, April 28, May 13 and Monday night.

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Rebekah Brown, and her son Heath 15, in front of the T Junction of Upper Ormeau Rd and Tillyroen Rd at Ormeau where they were involved in a nasty accident. Picture Glenn Hampson

The prangs come after a new give way sign was installed in January to improve it but people posting to the page say it has made the blind spot coming out of Upper Ormeau Rd worse. Prior to the sign, accidents were less frequent with posts reporting prangs last year on May 25, July 21 and August 16.

“Seriously need light there,” one noted. “Such a dangerous intersection. I have nearly been taken out so many times.

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“It’s only been down to pure luck and quick reflexes we have come out unscathed.”

Ms Brown would like to see safety measures implemented. Picture Glenn Hampson

One prang witness wrote: “Cars waiting at the giveway are blocking the view for cars turning right. I was almost involved in an accident, lucky I looked an extra time.

“I was at this intersection just after (an accident) and had someone beep and yell because I was being extra cautious. It is a dangerous intersection made worse by having traffic banking up at the giveway.”

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates has addressed the group’s concerns directly via email, revealing funding for traffic lights was slated for the 2020-21 financial year but she would fight to get it sooner.

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Ms Brown's family car after her, her husband and son were all injured in a prang at Upper Ormeau Road and Tillyroen Road.

“Signals are an imperative. I’ll continue to fight to have it brought forward,” she writes in her email, published in the Ormeau Community Forum.

Cr Gates told the Bulletin she was meeting a top council official on Monday to discuss the capital works budget.

“I’m confident the project will be completed in the next financial year because of the history of the intersection,” she said. “That is a quarry haul route and as we have had significant residential development both in Montego Hills and Ormeau Ridge, we need to protect the safety of residents.”

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The car was also badly damaged.

But Ormeau’s Rebekah Brown, whose family still deals with the aftermath of a serious crash a year ago, wasn’t confident the council would speed improvements up and questioned why it had taken this long.

“You can’t give us back our prior lives before our accident so why risk more people’s? Is it going to take a fatality?

Mrs Brown, husband Mark and son Heath were going north on Tillyroen Rd when a car turned right out of Upper Ormeau Rd into their vehicle, injuring all three.

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She suffered chronic whiplash, her husband tore his meniscus and hurt his hand — costing his boilermaker job, while Heath was thrown like a “crash test dummy” and had concussion, whiplash, memory loss and panic attacks.

“Maybe Donna should meet the boy who has lost all his confidence and trust in being on the roads and doesn’t sleep from recurring nightmares of dying in the accident.”

Mrs Brown also had to have heart surgery as the impact of the crash pushed her defibrillator out of a muscle pocket and it had to be moved back into the correct position.

She had started a job on the day of the accident and was to finish a business management course but has not returned to work and her course remains incomplete.

Medical bills were ongoing but she said: “We were lucky, there are other people who won’t be.”