WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch says a “horrific” car crash in Cloverdale on Monday morning could have been a deliberate act as investigators attempt to work out why a driver was travelling at high speed the wrong way down Leach Highway.
Speaking on Radio 6PR on Tuesday, Blanch said there would be “no reason” for someone to be speeding on the wrong side of the road, “unless something was seriously wrong”.
The commissioner’s comments come a day after the accident shut the highway in both directions near Perth Airport.
Police on Monday said a Toyota RAV4 had driven up an off-ramp and began heading north while in the southbound lanes of the highway, before crashing into a taxi just after 3.30am.
Taxi driver Sendeku Tesema, 58, was killed in the crash, along with his two passengers, a 56-year-old woman and her 81-year-old mother who were believed to have been returning home from a holiday.
The RAV4 caught fire during the incident and its driver also died at the scene.
Blanch said he had viewed witness dash cam vision of the crash, and could see “excessive speeds”.
“That will form most of the investigation as to why the driver was on the wrong side of the road and speeding at that time,” he said.
“Certainly, the investigation is focused on deliberate acts, if you will, being on the wrong side of the road and choosing to be there.”
Blanch said it was a tragedy to have that many lives lost.
Taxi driver Sendeku Tesema was killed in Cloverdale on Monday morning when his car was hit by a RAV4 driving the wrong way down Leach Highway.Credit: Facebook
“I mean, this is a horrific crash, and also for the first responders that attended that horrific scene, that’s probably something that would be burned in their memory for a long time,” he said.
On Tuesday, WA Premier Roger Cook also extended his condolences to those involved.
“I want to thank the police for their very speedy work in trying to provide some answers in this horrible, horrible crash,” he said.
“The fact they are now working around the theory that it was a deliberate act by one of the drivers is really very distressing, and I hope we get more answers as a result of their investigations.”
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