In memoriam: A list of lives lost on Territory roads in 2020
THIRTY-two people lost their lives on Territory roads in 2020, causing untold trauma and grief for devastated families and friends. Here we remember all 32 lives lost too soon.
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THE NT’s road toll stands at zero so far this year.
But sadly, 32 people lost their lives on Territory roads in 2020.
This list of last year’s fatalities is a reminder to be safe on our roads, so that everyone can get home alive.
JANUARY 1
A 24-year-old man died following a single vehicle crash in Ngukurr Community.
The man was ejected from the vehicle which had been observed driving erratically prior to the crash.
He later died as a result of injuries sustained during the crash.
FEBRUARY 12
Police located the body of Darren Viney on the side of a creek adjacent to Jenkins Road, Weddell, at 12.30pm.
Investigations revealed the man had crashed his motorcycle, with the bike coming to rest in the creek.
The crash scene was not immediately noticeable to road users from the roadway.
The 55-year-old man died at the scene.
He was found lying on the rocks at the foot of the bridge – a short distance from where
the motorcycle was found.
FEBRUARY 13
Jo Neyens, 57, died following a four-car crash that occurred on Tiger Brennan Drive about 8am between cars travelling inbound.
FEBRUARY 14
Two people died in the Palmerston area when two vehicles collided on Roystonea Avenue near the Lambrick Avenue intersection.
The driver of one car, mother-of-two Evelin Kwok, 34, died at the scene.
Witnesses were able to remove a 21-year-old male passenger in the other vehicle, and he was taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital in a serious condition.
The driver of the other vehicle, 20-year-old Julyan Mohan, remained trapped inside his car and died at the scene.
MARCH 4
A 19-year-old man died following a vehicle rollover on the Victoria Highway.
The single vehicle crash occurred approximately 5km east of Timber Creek about 9.50pm.
The surviving 36-year-old male driver and 18-year-old female rear passenger were ejected from the car.
APRIL 19
Thirty-three-year-old Darwin resident Rosanna Neff died following a single vehicle rollover at Noonamah.
At 10.30pm, police were on patrol when they happened upon the crashed vehicle on the Stuart Highway near Elizabeth Valley Road.
The vehicle left the road while travelling inbound, rolled a number of times and crashed into trees.
Officers pulled Ms Neff from the wreckage but she died at the scene from her injuries.
MAY 31
A 47-year-old man died in a motorcycle crash in Tennant Creek.
The man came off his motorcycle while riding along Savieri Road just before 1pm.
Police say he was not wearing a helmet.
JUNE 5
A 24-year-old driver killed in a single vehicle crash in Central Australia was not wearing a seatbelt.
The crash was at Arlparra, 200km from Alice Springs.
JUNE 8
American Alexander “Rooch” Aurrichio, 30, who had a promising future in AFL, was riding along Gunn Point Road about 7pm when a Nissan Patrol hit him from behind.
He died at the scene.
JUNE 14
Eight-year-old Brettson Payne died in hospital after he fell from a caravan while it was being towed on Edith Farms Road in Katherine.
The child suffered serious injuries and was taken to Katherine District Hospital where he died.
JULY 11
A 48-year-old woman died in a car crash in a remote area about 100km southwest of Katherine.
Police received reports of a single vehicle crash on Giwining (Flora) Road in Delamere about 8.30pm.
JULY 15
A 21-year-old woman died and an 11-month-old baby boy was medevaced to Alice Springs following a car rollover near Tennant Creek.
The two other occupants of the car, a 14-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man, were taken to Tennant Creek Hospital for treatment for non-life threatening injuries
The woman died at the scene of the crash, which occurred at 10.25am.
JULY 24
A 38-year-old woman was killed in a single vehicle crash about 40km south of Katherine.
The driver, a 48-year-old man, along with a 48-year-old woman passenger, had to be pulled from the car by passing motorists after it hit a tree and caught fire.
JULY 26
A 68-year-old man died in hospital following a single vehicle crash that occurred on Thursday July 23, on a remote and unsealed Finke Road, about 50km east of Kulgera.
The man is believed to have been a passenger in a 4WD that left the road and rolled a number of times.
AUGUST 15
Tennant Creek resident Russell Dyer, 52, and his 18-year-old son Paul Dyer, were on their way home to Tennant Creek from Queensland when the silver Toyota LandCruiser they were travelling in left the road and hit a tree.
AUGUST 23
About midnight, police attended a single vehicle crash about 160km west of Alice Springs, after the driver of the vehicle lost control on a bend in the road.
A 39-year-old female passenger died at the scene.
The 44-year-old male driver and three children, aged 9, 10 and 16, were conveyed from a local health clinic to Alice Springs Hospital with minor injuries.
On the same day, police attended a single vehicle crash about 82km west of Maningrida.
Emergency service crews attended, but a seven-year-old girl died at the scene.
Two women, aged 26 and 42, and a five-year-old child were taken to Royal Darwin Hospital.
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AUGUST 25
A 34-year old man died after a single vehicle crash about 70km west of Katherine.
OCTOBER 16
A 37-year-old man died after being struck by a car in The Narrows. It was the second time a pedestrian had been hit near the bus stop in 24 hours.
OCTOBER 17
Stephanie Shoben-Franklin, 24, was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Knuckey Lagoon.
The young woman was trapped in her vehicle and tragically died at the scene.
The driver of the other car, a 17-year-old man, was charged with a raft of offences.
OCTOBER 22
Shane Powell, 47, died a week after he was hit by an allegedly stolen car in a hit and run in Alice Springs.
The much loved Alice Springs resident was riding his motorcycle when he was hit by an allegedly stolen car that was driven through a red light at the Larapinta intersection.
He sustained life threatening injuries and was flown to Royal Adelaide Hospital where he later died.
Charges were laid against those involved.
OCTOBER 28
About 10pm, a vehicle was involved in a rollover on Bodiya Road, Milingimbi.
Staff from the local clinic pronounced the 51-year-old male driver dead.
NOVEMBER 8
Darwin electrician Sean Cassidy, 30, died in a horrific car crash in Girraween at 2.30am.
Mr Cassidy was behind the wheel of a white Toyota LandCruiser utility when it rolled on Power Road, Girraween.
He died at the scene after being ejected from the car.
NOVEMBER 14
Eleftheria “Rita” Skliros, 75, died in a three-car crash on the Stuart Highway in Livingstone at 8.45pm, while driving her Toyota Kluger.
In a sad twist, Ms Skliros had left home earlier that day to visit her husband Nicholas’ grave at Thorak Cemetry.
NOVEMBER 26
A man died in a single vehicle crash about 15km from Yarralin in the Victoria River District, just after 10pm.
He died at the scene.
Two other occupants of the vehicle were flown to Royal Darwin Hospital by CareFlight, one suffering critical injuries.
DECEMBER 10
A serious crash in Katherine on December 10 left two people dead and two others injured.
A 24-year-old man was critically injured in the crash and died on December 21.
A 19-year-old man who was also in the car died on December 29.
The men were flown to Royal Darwin Hospital in critical conditions after the crash.
The Holden Commodore, which was being driven by a 20-year-old man, crashed into a light pole on a median strip after being seen by police allegedly travelling at high speed in the northbound lane of Stuart Highway.
The driver has been charged in relation to the incident.
DECEMBER 9
The frontman of Ngukurr band Lonely Boys died in a single vehicle crash near Bulman around 9.30pm.
Two other passengers were treated at the scene by the staff of a local clinic.
The driver of the vehicle, a 33-year-old man, was charged in relation to the incident.
DECEMBER 12
A 36-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a 4WD vehicle travelling west on the Roper Highway.
The driver stopped to assist and conveyed the man, and a relative, to Mataranka Clinic.
The man was declared dead at 8.10pm.
DECEMBER 22
A man was hit and killed by a B-double prime mover just before 9pm on the Stuart Highway, 2km south of Mataranka.
The driver stopped and reported the incident and is assisting police with inquiries.
Two other fatal crashes occurred in the NT in 2020, on private property.
Because they occurred on private property they are not counted in the Territory road toll.
MAY 30
Lilly Walsh was killed in a single vehicle accident on a private property near Tipperary Station while heading back home from a fishing trip with friends.
She was a Year 9 student at MacKillop Catholic College.
One of the four other teenage occupants of the vehicle, a 13-year-old girl, was flown to Royal Darwin Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
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NOVEMBER 18
Helmut Schimmel, 80, died in a tragic quad bike accident on his cattle station west of Marrakai about 1am.
St John Ambulance paramedics responded.
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