The faces of Qld crash victims in the state’s worst road toll in a decade
There have been more than 200 people who have lost their lives on Queensland roads so far this year in the state’s worst road toll in a decade. These are their faces.
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Queensland continues to be on track for its most devastating road toll in a decade with more than 214 people having already lost their lives on the state’s roads so far this year.
These are just some of the lives that have been lost in 2022.
Tanya Bendall, 52
The Toowoomba mum and Pittsworth prep teacher died five days after her Mitsubishi Triton and a Toyota LandCruiser crashed on the D’Aguilar Highway about 10am on January 7.
Police said Ms Bendall and her husband were in the Triton heading in the opposite direction when they swerved and smashed into the LandCruiser, killing the driver, 51-year-old Glamorgan Vale man Daniel Hall.
Moreton North Patrol Inspector Paul Ready said initial police investigations indicated Ms Bendall’s double cab ute had a mechanical fault which caused it to veer into the sport utility vehicle (SUV).
Castor Zabala, 17
The life of the “always smiling” Bli Bli teenager was tragically cut short days after he had applied for the Australian Defence Force.
The Sunshine Coast teenager’s car slid and crashed about 1.10pm on January 14 in Rosemount, with witnesses and paramedics unable to help.
Sean McMahon, 53
The Tinaroo Rural Fire Brigade volunteer firefighter was killed on Burton Rd, Tinaroo, on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland the morning of January 16 in a single vehicle crash when police said his car swerved off the road and hit a tree. He was remembered as kind and quiet “bushy” that would not hesitate to give you the shirt off his back.
Chloe Victoria Dove, 22
A woman failed to give way at an intersection and caused a horror crash that killed Ms Dove and left another two people seriously injured.
Amber Noaleen Mabb, 24, was driving a Toyota Corolla with two passengers, including Ms Dove, along Cushnie Rd just before midday on January 15 when the trio approached an intersection with Chinchilla-Wondai Rd, near Tingoora in the South Burnett region of southeast Queensland.
In May, the Murgon Magistrates Court heard Ms Mabb overshot the intersection in her hatchback, failed to give way to oncoming traffic resulting in her driving into the westbound lanes, causing a ute to smash into Mabb’s passenger side.
Police prosecutor Sean Franklin said the impact caused the immediate death of Ms Dove, who was sitting in the front seat.
Mabb was convicted and sentenced to five months’ jail, wholly suspended for two years and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Ryan Tattersall, 29
The “bubbly” car, motorbike and camping lover died after his car crashed in Townsville about 10.45pm January 22.
Mr Tattersall’s Blue Holden Clubsport sedan was left in a wreck after police said he skidded across the road and rolled, before smashing into a power pole on Mount Low Parkway in Townsville.
Tam Dixon Frewin
Clermont health hero Tam Dixon Frewin was killed in a two-car crash in Strathfield, about 25km west of Nebo, about 3.40pm on February 2.
The Australia Day Award nominee had been driving a 76-year-old man from Mackay back to Clermont in her Honda Wagon, after a doctor’s appointment, on the Peak Downs Highway west of Mackay when the crash happened.
Queensland Police Service investigators allege Rozlyn Grace Walker, 33, had been driving a Toyota 4WD in the opposite direction, between Coppabella and Strathfield, when she crossed the centre lines and veered into the path of Mrs Dixon Frewin.
Both Mrs Dixon Frewin’s passenger and Ms Walker were taken to hospital with injuries.
Ms Walker has since been charged with reckless driving causing death and drug-driving over the crash.
Mrs Dixon Frewin was a tireless health worker who helped the community’s sick and vulnerable, regularly giving lifts to people from Clermont to doctors’ appointments in bigger cities.
Nathaniel ‘Bull’ Frampton, 23
The avid baseball player and fishing enthusiast was the passenger of a white Volkswagen Golf when police said the driver veered off Townsville Ring Road and crashed in Douglas about 12.40am February 6.
Mr Frampton, of Bushland Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The alleged driver, David Ernest Arthur Johnson, 25, of Nome, was charged this month with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death or grievous bodily harm while excessively speeding, and a count of disobeying the speed limit – type two vehicle related offence.
Tristan Ferguson, 25
The Palmwoods man died following a single truck rollover in the Sunshine Coast hinterland about 11am on February 1.
Police said Mr Ferguson had been towing a bobcat and excavator southeast along Blackall Range Dulong Rd when he lost control of the large truck at a bend, causing it to roll before coming to a halt on a grassed verge.
Sunshine Coast Forensic Crash Unit officer-in-charge, Evan Condon, said the Mr Ferguson had been trapped “in an awkward” position in the truck’s cabin for about half an hour with injuries.
Mr Ferguson died in hospital on February 9.
Family friends said he had recently turned his life around and was engaged, weeks away from buying land to build a house and harboured his own business ambitions.
Bradley Smith, 14
Bradley was sitting in the middle seat of an alleged stolen and overloaded Toyota Yaris when it crashed into a tree on Pease St, Manoora in Cairns on February 14.
Police allege the car was stolen just before 1am and was loaded with six children, four of whom were on bail at the time.
A 14-year-old boy was charged with manslaughter over Bradley’s death, as well as three counts of grievous bodily harm whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance.
The teenager was also charged with one count each of burglary, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and driving without a licence.
A second 14-year-old boy was charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle and burglary.
In July, a Coroners Court of Queensland spokesman said State Coroner Terry Ryan was awaiting the results of the police investigation before determining whether to hold an inquest into Bradley’s death and if it occurred in the course of a police operation.
Nick Newell, 49
Mr Newell died about 5pm on February 21 in a single motorcycle crash on the Sunshine Coast.
Police said initial investigations indicated the Cooroy man lost control of his motorbike on a bend on Lawnville Road, Cooroy, before coming to a stop in a spoon drain.
Passing motorists stopped to provide first aid to Mr Newell but they and paramedics were unsuccessful in their efforts to resuscitate him.
Ella-May Correa-O’Hanlon, 29
Ms Correa-O’Hanlon died on February 27 despite the best efforts of Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics, police and a passer-by tried who all tried desperately to save her life.
Police said Ms Correa-O’Hanlon, of Tamborine south of Brisbane, was found lying injured on the side of the road about 4.30pm on the Bruce Highway Sunshine Coast Motorway offramp, near the intersection of Frizzo Connection Road and Cunning Road, Tanawha, on the Sunshine Coast.
Her white 1985 Ford Falcon Station Wagon was found in a nearby ditch with a pet dog who survived the crash.
With floods throughout the area that month, police at the time said Ms Correa-O’Hanlon’s injuries were not considered to be flood-related but she could have been caught during the floods because some of the Bruce Highway was closed at the time.
Police said Ms Correa-O’Hanlon was likely flung from her car.
Darren Mallory, 52
Mr Mallory, of Coopers Plains, was the sole occupant of his car on March 24 when police said he crashed into the back of a stationary tow truck on the Gateway Motorway in Carindale about 1.30am.
He was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Woolloongabba in a critical condition but passed away from his injuries on March 26.
Friends and family remembered him as a man who helped others and made people laugh.
Lianah Paige Power, 21
A “gorgeous and bubbly” woman who died in a car crash in Dayboro on March 28.
Police said Ms Power, of Warner on Brisbane’s northside, was driving her hatchback northwest on Dayboro Road about 5.30pm when she crossed to the other side of the road and crashed with a sedan headed in the opposite direction.
She was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital where she died from her injuries the next day.
A passenger was also treated at hospital.
Ms Power donated her skin tissue to burn victims in honour of her mother who sustained severe burns in an accident on Mother’s Day, 2021.
Yi-Jing Zeng, 20s
Sixth year James Cook University medical student and virtuoso violinist, Yi-Jing Zeng was one of three drivers who died on the highway at Koumala, near Mackay in Central Queensland, in consecutive months.
Ms Zeng, who had been living in Mackay for two years, lost her life on March 27.
Police said she was driving her Suzuki Swift to Biloela in pouring rain to begin a new placement when she was involved in a head-on crash with a truck on the Bruce Highway, about 10km south of Sarina, about 7.40am.
Dashcam footage from the truck showed her car hit a couple of big puddles of water and she lost control, resulting in the crash.
Ben Mitchell, 31
The young father and Hancock Brothers hockey player was killed after his motorcycle crashed into a car on April 3.
Police said a preliminary investigation indicated Mr Mitchell was riding south on Ipswich Boonah Rd in Purga, near Ipswich, just before 2pm when he crashed with a northbound station wagon, before then smashing into the path of an oncoming Mitsubishi Lancer.
Police said Mr Mitchell was thrown from his motorbike, which caught alight as a result of the wreck.
Steve Ohl, 67
Mr Ohl was on his way to Kuranda from Cairns on April 4 and was driving a ute along the Kennedy Highway when he and a large waste disposal truck were involved in a smash about 12.40pm.
The driver of the truck, a 48-year-old Mount Sheridan man, sustained minor injuries while Mr Ohl passed away.
Mr Ohl was remembered by his family as a “kind and quiet kind of bloke who was really good company”.
He left behind four children and his 12 siblings.
John ‘Little John’ Hoghes, 31, and Jesse Madden, 20
The brother-in-law’s died when the car they were in rolled and slammed into a power pole on the D’Aguilar Hwy between Kingaroy and Nanango on April 10.
A 28-year-old Kingaroy man was flown to the Princess Alexandra hospital in Brisbane in a serious condition.
Police said Mr Hoges, a father-of-four and Nanango resident, was driving the commodore when the car flipped and crashed into a water pump on the highway, killing both him and Mr Madden, of Tara, instantly.
Alan, 60, and Hannah Atherton, 19
Hannah Atherton had joined her father Alan’s group motorbike ride on April 18 as part of celebrating his 60th birthday.
The pillion passenger on his Harley Davidson, the teenager and her dad were driving south along the Bruce Highway when they crashed with a silver sedan near the intersection with McNeil Road at Koumala, just after Cherry Tree Creek, near Mackay about 10.25am.
Police Acting Inspector Anthony Cowan said initial investigations indicated a car, that was stopped on the side of the road, did a U-turn in front of the motorbike.
Mr Atherton died at the scene.
His daughter was flown to the Townsville Hospital but died from her injuries on April 27.
Debbie Lee Hudson, 64, of East Mackay, was charged in June with two counts of driving without due care and attention or driving without reasonable consideration for other people using the road causing death, with the matter scheduled to be mentioned in court later this month.
Lleyton Bartlett, 22 and Aaron Pitt, 25
The mechanics and co-workers were repairing a broken-down bus on the side of Nambour Connection Rd near Aird Lane about 3.30pm on April 21 when police said they were hit and killed by a westbound car.
Mr Pitt, of Currimundi, and Mr Bartlett, from Baringa, were rushed with critical injuries to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital where they both passed away.
No one was on board the bus at the time.
Kelly Renee Liddicoat, 43, of Warana, was charged this month with dangerously operating a vehicle causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, and driving under the influence with relation to the crash.
The matter was mentioned in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on September 2 and was adjourned to October 21.
Matthew Makinson, 31
The popular horseman and rodeo rider died when he crashed the white 2018 Mitsubishi Triton ute he was driving into trees off the Sunshine Motorway on-ramp in Mountain Creek on the Sunshine Coast on April 29.
A passing motorist spotted the ute east of Seriata Way and called emergency services about 7am but Mr Makinson, of Booroobin, was pronounced dead inside his ute.
Police said early investigations indicated the young father crashed about 1am.
Stirling Edwards-Bland, 12
The Cannonvale boy died in a car crash on their way back from an athletics competition in Townsville in North Queensland.
Police allege the crash occurred when a Nissan Patrol crossed into the path of the Toyota RAV4 his mother was driving on Bruce Highway, south of Gregory River, in the Bundaberg Region on May 1 about 6.40pm.
His twin brother, Austin Edwards-Bland, suffered a serious pelvic fracture in the crash but survived along with their mother Tracy, and were both taken to Proserpine hospital.
A South Townsville man, 41, police said was driving the Nissan Patrol was charged in June with dangerous driving causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, and driving under the influence.
Friends and family said Stirling dreamt of becoming a veterinarian when he grew up.
Bernice Prats, 80
Spirited adventurer and admired grandmother, Bernice Prats, died on May 3 after the trailer of a truck driving south along the Bruce Highway struck her campervan while she was driving in the opposite direction at Goolboo in the Cassowary Coast Region about 12.15pm.
The truck trailer also hit a four-wheel-drive travelling behind the campervan, but police said the occupants escaped injury.
Ms Prats, a retired teachers aide, was the sole occupant of the campervan and died at the scene.
Jacob Betts, 24
On Mother’s Day, Jacob Betts was riding a motorbike when he and a car were involved in a crash on Horse and Jockey Road at Racecourse at 5.05am in the Mackay Region.
Mr Betts worked at the mines in Dysart as a tyre fitter after having been released on parole in February.
A 20-year-old Eimeo man was charged with drink-driving following the fatal crash.
Mr Betts’s death was one of four on Mackay Whitsunday region roads within a week in May.
Jordan Blanch, 27
The man was killed in an alleged hit and run on Sarina Beach Rd near Grasstree Road, Sarina, in the early hours of Mother’s Day.
Police said Mr Blanch had been walking westbound towards Sarina, in Central Queensland, along an unlit section of the rural road moments before he was struck, sometime between 5.30am and 5.40am, by a vehicle headed in the same direction.
Vaea Taavale, 22 and Anthony Cooper, 30
The men died in a three-car smash on the Centenary Highway between Springfield and White Rock, near Brisbane, about 6.20am on Mother’s Day.
Police said Mr Taavale, from Marsden, was driving a Mitsubishi westbound when he and Mr Cooper, of Mount Warren Park, who was driving a Mazda in the opposite direction were involved in a head-on crash.
A 32-year-old Deebing Heights woman who was a passenger in the Mazda was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with serious injuries.
The driver of the third car, also a Mitsubishi, a 24-year-old Ripley woman, was taken to Ipswich General Hospital in a stable condition.
Mr Cooper’s passenger Zach Gee, 28, of Camira, was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with several broken bones and internal damage to his bowels, kidney and liver.
Mr Cooper had been driving Mr Gee to the airport.
Mr Taavale was a promising rugby league player from Wynnum Manly Juniors.
Neville “Nifty” Meikle, 59
The East Brisbane man was changing a tyre on his ute on the side of the Sunshine Motorway at Tanawha on the Sunshine Coast when he was police said he was hit by a car driven by an 18-year-old woman on May 14 just after 4.30pm.
The speed skating champion, who represented Australia in the 1980 world speed skating championships, sustained critical chest injuries and was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital where he passed away.
No criminal charges were laid against the teenage driver.
Andrew “Roy” Symonds, 46
The former Australian international cricket player died in a crash in Far North Queensland on May 14.
Mr Symonds was driving up Hervey Range Road, near Alice River Bridge about 50km outside Townsville, when he rolled his car just after 11pm.
Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics unsuccessfully tried to revive Mr Symonds, of Townsville, but he died at the scene.
Some good Samaritans who rushed to the scene of the crash said his dogs miraculously survived and did not want to leave his side.
Born in Birmingham, UK, the married father-of-two was a key member of two World Cup winning squads.
The flamboyant all-rounder was one of cricket’s most popular characters during the peak of his career, before forging a successful career as a media identity on Fox Sports.
Blade Waring, 34
The Ipswish man was driving along Blackstone Road on May 20 when his car careened into 7-Eleven service station petrol browser just before midnight, according to police.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of the single vehicle crash, however Mr Waring had suffered critical injuries and could not be saved.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of the single vehicle crash, however the tradesman had sustained critical injuries and could not be saved.
Friends and family described Mr Waring as having been a “fun-loving character” with a “beautiful personality.”
Jason Bice, 47
The Logan Village resident was riding a motorbike south on Kingston Road when he crashed with a hatchback at the intersection with Reserve Road in Slacks Creek in Logan about 5pm on May 26.
This was one of two fatal crashes in southeast Queensland that day.
Loved ones described Mr Bice as a “diamond in the rough” and said the family man was a daredevil who also loved pulling pranks on people.
William Baker, 17
The skateboarding lover died after police said he crashed a green Kawasaki dirt bike into a 2012 Toyota Hiace at Blacks Beach in Mackay about 6.30pm on May 28.
A 48-year-old Andergrove man had been driving the Blacks Beach Tavern courtesy bus, when police said the teenager crashed into the van’s reinforced sliding door “at speed” at the intersection of Blacks Beach and Hancock roads.
Mr Baker was taken to hospital in critical condition where he later passed away.
He skateboarding and was a member of the Eimeo Surf Life Saving Club.
Ryan Kimball, 16
The Buderim child was a passenger in the back of a car driven by another teenager when police said the driver lost control of the car and crashed into a power pole about 3.50pm, June 9 on Finland Road in Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast.
Police said two other boys, aged 15 and 17, were rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
The teenager loved going out on boats and enjoyed fishing, crabbing and motocross.
Taneil Harris, 21, and Kyah Morgan, 15
Ms Harris and her niece were killed instantly when the Ford Falcon they were in with three others crashed into a tree and flipped on Mollenhagen Rd and crashed near Pepperina Drive in Logan’s Stockleigh about midday on June 22.
Ms Harris’s sister, Krystal Harris, 20, was taken to hospital in critical condition, while their brother, TJ Harris, 15, escaped with minor injuries.
Police said early investigations pointed to Ms Harris as being the driver with family saying they had been headed to shops to buy baby formula for Krstyal’s 9-month-old daughter and were less than 1km from home.
They said a person driving behind the group said their front tyre blew out when it hit a pothole, causing their car to flip.
Family members described Ms Harris and Ms Morgan has caring and sweet.
Dale “Daisy” Ryan, 47
Former Brisbane Bullets Basketball team assistant coach and father of two Dale Ryan died Doonan in the Sunshine Coast Region about 11pm on July 1.
Police said Mr Ryan lost control of his Mazda sedan on Eumundi-Noosa Rd just after 11pm and crashed into a tree.
Known as ‘Daisy’ Mr Ryan was a key figure in the Queensland basketball community, most notably as an assistant coach during the Bullets’ record season in 2007, the franchise’s last NBL title.
He had most recently coached the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.
Kai Alexander Phillips, 18
The Scenic Rim teenager died after he was involved in a crash with a large dump truck in Tamborine, South of Brisbane about 4pm on July 15.
Police said Mr Phillips, of Boyland, was driving a black 2013 Ford Fiesta west on Mundoolun Connection Rd, approaching the Beaudesert Beenleigh Rd intersection, when the crash occurred with the southbound truck.
The truck driver was not injured.
Patricia Keys Ballard, 82
The Caboolture resident died on July 20 after spending almost a week in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with serious injuries following a crash in Burpengary on July 14.
Police said Mrs Ballard’s husband Joe, 82, was driving when the Moreton Bay couple were involved in a smash with a truck on Oakey Flat Rd just before 3pm.
They, along with driver and sole occupant of the truck, a 68-year-old Narangba man, were all taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Tim Everingham, 31
The Brisbane nurse was killed in a motorbike crash in Woolloongabba in Brisbane about 9.30am on July 24.
Initial police investigations indicated Mr Everingham was riding along Logan Rd, near Martin St, when he was involved in a crash with a car.
University of Queensland practice educator was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.
The driver of the car was uninjured.
A friend said Mr Everingham, a nurse at the QEII Jubilee Hospital in Coopers Plains in Brisbane’s south, had been on his way over to his house when he was killed.
Friends remembered Mr Everingham as someone who would do anything to help those around him.
Jackie Faulkner, 59
The Kuranda woman was killed in a three-vehicle smash on the Bruce Highway at Bilyana, north of Cardwell, on the Cassowary Coast about 1pm on August 3.
Police said preliminary investigations indicate Ms Faulkner was headed to Townsville in her Mazda sedan and had stopped behind a sugar cane truck at a traffic light.
The truck had been waiting to turn right into a farm access road when, police said, another truck headed south hit Ms Faulkner’s Mazda.
The former teacher and professional counsellor was the sole occupant of the car and was pronounced dead at the scene.
She has been on her way to visit her pregnant daughter in Townsville.
The drivers of the trucks were not injured.
Matthew Bujnowicz, 35
The Mount Cotton man killed in a Redland Bay crash in the City of Redland was a former member of a infamous Gold Coast bikie gang who was trying to turn his life around.
He was riding a motorcycle along Heinemann Rd about 4pm July 31 when police said he was involved in a crash with a white SUV.
It is understood the construction business owner was previously part of the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle gang but had allegedly gone into hiding earlier in the year in an effort to start a new life, according to friends and family.
Karen Malcolm, 63
A Sunshine Coast grandmother and bus driver was on her way home from work when she was involved in a three-car crash along Bells Creek Arterial Rd in Corbould Park just after 8.50pm on August 9.
Police said Ms Macolm, of Baringa, the sole occupant of her Toyota Kluger, was driving southbound she was hit by a Toyota Landcruiser driven by 17-year-old Nirimba man headed in the opposite direction.
The teenager was taken to hospital in serious condition.
Ms Malcolm loved playing the bagpipes and being a part of her community.
Clarence Ball, 49
The renowned Indigenous artist was killed in a single car rollover on Homerule Rd, Rossville, just outside the small Cook Shire town about 11pm on September 2.
Police said Mr Ball and three others had been attending the four-day Orin-Aya dance music festival just outside Rossville, about 40km north of Cooktown in the Far North, when the car they were in careened off the wet road and into Wallaby Creek.
It is not yet known if Mr Ball drowned or from injuries sustained in the crash.
The three other occupants were taken to hospital.
A Rossville resident said the group was from the Indigenous communities of Wujal Wujal and the town of Mossman.
The artwork of Mr Ball, a traditional owner of the Wujal Wujal area, has been exhibited at Bana Yirriji Art Centre, featured in Art Collector magazine and at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.
Originally published as The faces of Qld crash victims in the state’s worst road toll in a decade
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