Bruce Highway fatal crashes: Three people killed at Koumala south of Mackay

The father of a promising young doctor killed in a highway crash south of Mackay learned of the tragedy via an app that was tracking her journey. It is one of six fatal crashes in what police have labelled a tragic start to 2022.

The father of a promising young doctor killed in a Bruce Highway crash south of Mackay learned of the tragedy via an app that was tracking her journey.

Sixth year medical student Yi-Jing Zeng is one of three drivers who died on the highway at Koumala in consecutive months as Mackay Forensic Crash investigators label the start of 2022 akin to one of the worst years for road fatalities.

Sixth year James Cook University medical student Yi-Jing Zeng died in a crash on the Bruce Highway 10km south of Sarina on Sunday, March 27, 2022. She had been on her way to Biloela for placement. Picture: Contributed

Sergeant Michael Hollett said there had so far been six road deaths across the region in 2022, up from two during the same period in 2021 and just one under the seven fatalities to April 18, 2020.

Three of these occurred along a stretch of the Bruce Highway at Koumala, but the FCU officer-in-charge said all crashes had occurred under very different circumstances.

The first occurred about 10pm on February 4 involving a 50-year-old man who had driven his ute onto the wrong side of the highway colliding with a truck, near Loloma Rd.

The ute burst into flames and the truck caught alight too.

The wreckage of a tragic crash on the Bruce Highway north of Koumala that took the life of a Mackay man on February 4, 2022. Picture: Lillian Watkins

“It’s still a mystery as to why the car crossed to the wrong side of the road, a straight section of road on a fine clear night; we just can’t explain it,” Sergeant Hollett said.

“We’ve got as much information as we can and we’ve put it to the coroner.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see what the coroner wants to do with it.”

Sergeant Hollett said there were no witnesses except the truck driver, who saw the ute cross into the wrong lane “in the last few seconds and that was that”.

“He couldn’t do anything,” Sergeant Hollett said.

The wreckage of a tragic truck crash on the Bruce Highway north of Koumala that took the life of a Mackay man driving a ute on February 4, 2022. Picture: Lillian Watkins

Ms Zeng was killed on March 27 when her Suzuki Swift collided head-on with a truck on the Bruce Highway about 10km south of Sarina just before 8am.

She had been living in Mackay for two years and was driving to Biloela to begin a new placement.

Sergeant Hollett said police were investigating if “road issues” had been a contributing factor as dashcam footage from the truck showed her car “hit a couple of big puddles of water just as it was coming over the overpass”.

“As soon as the car hit these puddles it’s aquaplaned and lost control, which led to the crash,” Sergeant Hollett said.

Tragically her father, who lives in Canberra, knew something was wrong because he had an app on her phone tracking her car trip.

Clayton's Towing remove a car and motorcycle from the scene of a two-vehicle crash on the Bruce Highway at Koumala on Easter Monday. Picture: Janessa Ekert

“All of a sudden the tracking just stopped … the car just stopped on the highway,” Sergeant Hollett said.

“He knew something was wrong well before police knocked on his door.

“He was ringing triple-0 well before … Canberra police let him know his daughter had been killed in a car crash.”

Most recently on April 18 a 60-year-old father was killed on the highway near Cherry Tree Creek after the Harley Davidson he was riding collided with a silver sedan about 10.25am.

The crash killed a 60-year-old man, while his 19-year-old daughter is in a critical condition. Picture: Janessa Ekert

His 19-year-old daughter, who was the pillion passenger, is in a critical condition fighting for her life in Townsville.

Sergeant Hollett said investigations indicated the sedan had pulled over to the side of the road and was in the process of performing a U-turn when the collision occurred.

The Easter Monday case is still under investigation.

Alan Atherton, 60, died in a Bruce Highway crash near Koumala about 10.25am on Monday, April 18, 2022. Mr Atherton was riding a motorbike with his daughter Hannah Atherton as his pillion passenger. Five people in the car were not seriously injured. Picture: Facebook

“What happens out there on the road can happen to anybody,” Sergeant Hollett said, urging motorists to invest in a dashcam.

“I encourage people to go out and buy a dashcam,” he said.

“It’s protection for you so that if you’re involved in something, a serious or minor crash, there’s a record of it.”

It was also extra eyes for police, he added.

And as a general message, he said, drive to the conditions and be aware of your surroundings.

“The majority of people listen to us,” he said.

“There’s always going to be a small percentage of the population who won’t listen … they’ll just do what they want whenever they want on the road.

“It’s those sorts of people that unfortunately involved an innocent second party in their antics, in their driving behaviour. That’s when it gets frustrating for us.

“Then we have to go and talk to the next of kin … when they realise the life of their loved one was taken because of the direct behaviour of another person, (it’s) hard to comprehend.”

Originally published as Bruce Highway fatal crashes: Three people killed at Koumala south of Mackay