Jacob Betts tribute: Close friends remember Mackay man after fatal Racecourse crash

Police say alcohol and speed played a part in a Mother’s Day crash that claimed the life of young man trying to move forward with his life.

A young Dysart man was trying to move forward with his life after spending almost a year in jail when he was tragically killed in the early hours of Mother’s Day.

Those close to him have been left reeling in disbelief they will no longer see the smiling face and hear laughter from the guy they knew and loved.

“We want everyone to know the real Jacob Betts,” close friends Shae Primrose and her partner Jake Dever, of Mackay, said.

Jacob, 24, had been released on parole in February, was working full-time at the mines in Dysart as a tyre fitter and was looking forward to his future when his life was tragically cut short at Racecourse.

Jacob Betts was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a vehicle on Horse and Jockey Rd at Racecourse on May 8, 2022.

He had been riding a black motorcycle he adored when it and a Toyota Corolla collided on Horse and Jockey Rd, near the Meadowlands Rd intersection about 5.05am.

“An hour before it happened I was with him, we were laughing,” Ms Primrose, 19, said.

“I’m still wrapping my head around it.”

Mr Betts had spent 359 days in jail for drug-related offences, but Ms Primrose and Mr Dever said his criminal past did not define who he was as a person.

“I was at my absolute lowest and I can say that man picked me back up when I thought no one could,” she said.

“He was my rock.

“I want everyone to know the person that he was, he was a beautiful soul.”

A motorbike rider has died after a collision with a car on Horse and Jockey Rd and the intersection with Meadowlands Rd at Racecourse. Picture: Janessa Ekert

Ms Primrose said Jacob loved to be around his friends and family and he loved to be able to put a smile on their faces.

“He was a genuinely happy, funny guy … he never had anything negative to say no matter how bad the situation was,” he said.

Although he had been living in Dysart, Ms Primrose said Mr Betts was often in Mackay visiting his friends.

“Jacob Betts is my best friend and in the very significant yet little amount of time that I knew him he had impacted my life … so much,” Ms Primrose and Mr Dever said.

“He was taken way too young.”

Acting Inspector Anthony Cowan said alcohol and speed had a played a role in the crash.

“About 5am (Sunday morning) a vehicle was travelling from Mackay out towards Horse and Jockey Road,” he said.

“As it was trying to turn into Gibsons road, it’s turned in front of the path of a motorbike.

“Unfortunately, the motorbike rider died at the scene and both occupants of the vehicle were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

“It appears the motorbike was travelling at excessive speed and alcohol could be a factor for the driver of the vehicle at this stage.”

Mr Betts’s death on is one of four on Mackay Whitsunday region roads in the past week.

Sarina man Jordan Blanch also died on Mother’s Day in a hit and run crash less than an hour after Mr Betts.

Police say the 27 year old had been walking towards Sarina along an unlit section of the rural road moments before the tragedy occurred between 5.30am and 5.40am.

On Friday, a 50-year-old Glenlee man died in a serious Bruce Highway crash between Mackay and Rockhampton. Police he commutes between the two regional cities regularly.

It comes after Whitsunday 12-year-old Stirling Edwards-Bland died in a crash that seriously injured his twin brother Austin on their way back from a swim meet in Townsville last Sunday.

Originally published as Jacob Betts tribute: Close friends remember Mackay man after fatal Racecourse crash