Police investigating if defective tyres cause horror crash at Mount Marlow

Police believe a simple but deadly decision likely caused a crash which claimed the lives of a pregnant woman, her mother and another in the Whitsundays - and it is one many Queensland drivers could be making.

Mary Joy Estrada De La Cruz, husband Edgar De La Cruz Jr and Mary's parents were involved in a tragic accident that left the pregnant Mary dead. Photo: GoFundMe

Police are investigating whether defective tyres played a part in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of four people in the Whitsundays, including a woman pregnant with her first child.

Mary Joy Estrada De La Cruz, 35, had been travelling with her husband and parents towards Cannonvale when their Nissan Navara allegedly moved into the oncoming lane of Shute Harbour Rd and collided with a Toyota LandCruiser at Mount Marlow.

The horror crash, that occurred about 1pm on August 11, claimed the lives of Mrs De La Cruz and her unborn child, her 60-year-old mother Marvic Estrada and a 28-year-old Gold Coast man who had been a passenger in the Toyota.

Mary’s husband Edgar De La Cruz had been at the wheel of the Nissan when the collision occurred and had also suffered serious injuries.

Mary Joy Estrada De La Cruz (left) was killed in a car crash alongside her mother. She was taking her parents (right) to see the home she was building with her husband, Edgar De La Cruz Jr, who remains in hospital. Picture: Facebook

No charges have been laid and police investigations into the fatal crash are ongoing.

Mackay Forensic Crash Unit officer in charge Sergeant Michael Hollett said they were “looking closely at the condition of the vehicle … as well as the road” as part of their investigation.

“We noted that the rear tyres on this vehicle … the tread was well below minimum standard,” Sergeant Hollett said.

“Even though it wasn’t raining heavily … the road was wet and when you’ve got tyres that have got no tread or below the minimum required, below the legal standard 1.5m then it’s … a recipe for disaster.”

Sergeant Hollett said this was “another crash that could have been avoided”.

“This is a good wake up call for people to keep a good check on their vehicle and their tyres,” Sergeant Hollett said.

Mackay Forensic Crash Unit Officer in Charge Sergeant Michael Hollett speaking about the Shute Harbour Rd crash on August 11, 2024. Picture: Lillian Watkins.

“Even with a little bit of rain on the road or a little bit of water, if you’ve got tyres that are below the minimum tread depth … it’s not going to provide any grip.

“It’ll take one small extra deep little puddle or extra pool of water and then your car can be destabilised, you can lose control.”

The Mount Marlow tragedy brought the Mackay Whitsunday district road toll for 2024 to 16, which is five deaths higher than the same time in 2023.

Sergeant Hollett said more than 90 per cent of the fatal crashes this year – which equated to 10 – could have been avoided.

Fatigue had been a common issue, he said.

While one crash involved a motorbike rider who had been more than three times the limit when he crashed into a pole and died.

Sergeant Hollett urged all drivers to take care on the road and remember the fatal five.

2024 fatal crashes

January 10: Patrick Roots, 27, had been riding as part of a group when his motorbike slide out while riding over a rail line on the Pleystowe Connection Rd bridge and he collided with a trailer attached to a vehicle about 1.40pm.

Patrick Roots, 27, tragically died in a traffic incident on Pleystowe Connection Rd bridge on January 10.

February 7: A 38-year-old man died when the Subaru Impreza he was driving exploded into flames after colliding with a MG HS Wagon on the Bruce Highway near St Lawrence about 7.10pm

February 26: A 69-year-old Hampden man was involved in a serious two vehicle crash on the Bruce Highway at the Glendaragh Rd intersection at Glenella. He was flown to Townsville University Hospital and died on March 16.

February 29: Crediton man David ‘Warby’ Grant, 61, died in a single vehicle incident when the motorbike he was riding left Eungella Dam Rd and crashed sometime before 7am.

Rockhampton region 21-year-old Zahn Rothery died in a crash at Nebo on March 13, 2024. Picture: Facebook

March 13: Zahn Rothery, 21, of Rockyview, tragically died after the Nissan Navara he was driving left Oxford Downs Sarina Rd near Nebo and hit a tree sometime before 11am.

March 14: Adam Hinde, 64, died when the quad bike he was riding rolled down an embankment pinning him on a farming property on Wood Rd at Koumala.

April 8: A 57-year-old West Mackay man died when the Ford Ranger he was driving rolled down an embankment along the Peak Downs Highway at Epsom about 5.25pm.

May 10: Maxwell Gunn, 33, of Sarina, died after the motorbike he was riding left Sarina Beach Rd and hit a pole about 9.10pm.

Photographs taken in the immediate aftermath of a horror fatal Greyhound passenger bus crash at Gumlu on the Bruce Highway south of Ayr on Sunday. The bus driver, picture, miraculously survived. The bus carrying 33 passengers was travelling north when it collided head on with a caravan being towed by a four-wheel drive driven by an elderly couple. Three passengers on the bus were killed while two others remained in critical conditions in Townsville University Hospital on Monday morning. Picture: Supplied

June 30: German women Aliya Tonga, 21 and Marissa Martin, 33 and Townsville grandmother Emma ‘Alli’ Sailor, 56 died after the Greyhound bus they were travelling on collided with a caravan on the Bruce Highway at Gumlu just after 11am. Bus driver Peter Jason Cafe has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving causing death of grievous bodily harm over the crash.

July 19: A 79-year-old Pinnacle man died after suffering life threatening chest injuries when the Mazda BT-50 utility he was driving left Mackay Eungella Rd and crashed about 12.30pm at Mirani.

July 25: A cyclist was killed in an alleged hit and run incident at the Bootooloo Rd and Wheelers Lane intersection at Bowen about 4.42am.

August 11: 35-year-old Mary Joy Estrada De La Cruz, who had been pregnant with her first child, her 60-year-old mother Maria Estrada and a 28-year-old Gold Coast man all died after a Nissan Navara and Toyota LandCruiser collided on Shute Harbour Rd at about 1.pm at Mount Marlow.

Originally published as Police investigating if defective tyres cause horror crash at Mount Marlow