Ethan Durnsford fatal: Driver charged over Peak Downs Highway collision

Ethan Durnsford was just shy of his 19th birthday and had just started a dream job that would lead him to Gargett. Now, a teen police allege was driving when the car crashed, killing him, has been charged.

A teenager has been charged over the crash that killed popular Bowen man Ethan Durnsford.

Mr Durnsford, 18, was the passenger in his mother’s ute and had been driving back from visiting his brother in Moranbah when the vehicle and a truck collided on the Peak Downs Highway near Nebo about 5am on August 8.

He died at the scene while the driver, the only other occupant of the vehicle, was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The 18-year-old man police allege was driving the vehicle has today been charged with driving without due care causing death.

Ethan Durnsford, 18, is being remembered for his warm heart, red hair and all-round great nature after he died in a collision between a ute and B-double truck on the Peak Downs Highway near Nebo about 5.15am Sunday, August 8, 2021. Picture: Supplied

Brett Daniel Matton is scheduled to appear in Mackay Magistrates Court next month.

Mackay Forensic Crash Unit Senior Constable Michael Parker said the driver’s blood samples had returned negative results for drugs and alcohol.

Investigations had indicated Mr Durnsford had driven an initial leg of the trip back from Moranbah but had switched drivers.

Ethan Durnsford, 18, died in a Peak Downs Highway crash near Nebo about 5.15am Sunday, August 8, 2021. Picture: Contributed

Mr Durnsford’s death sent shockwaves of grief through the Mackay region as tributes flowed for the beloved youngster who had just started his dream job in Townsville that would one day let him take over the family farm in Gargett.

He was just shy of his 19th birthday, and only weeks earlier moved back to the region from the Far North.

Originally published as Ethan Durnsford fatal: Driver charged over Peak Downs Highway collision