Five dead in five weeks of havoc
FIVE lives have been lost in horrific car crashes along the same stretch of the New England Highway in the past five weeks.
Stanthorpe
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FIVE lives have been lost in horrific car crashes along the same stretch of the New England Highway in the past five weeks.
The most recent occurred on Sunday afternoon- when a 53-year-old motorbike rider collided with a truck, 20km out from Warwick.
A 24-year-old French tourist, a 60-year-old Toowoomba truck driver, a 54-year-old mother from Tenterfield and a 54-year-old Stanthorpe man have also lost their lives on the highway between Warwick and Wallangarra since January 7.
Three of the five crashes happened in the Stanthorpe Police district.
The road toll has left Stanthorpe Police traffic boss Sergeant Daniel O'Dea frustrated and shocked.
Sgt O'Dea said he had never encountered this many fatal crashes in such a short time frame before.
He is not the only one frustrated by the high road toll.
Southern Downs Mayor Peter Blundell labelled the death toll as "horrendous".
Living in Stanthorpe and spending many hours working in Warwick, Cr Blundell spends a fair amount of time on this stretch of road.
"It is a tragedy when anybody loses their life on the road," Cr Blundell said.
"It is horrendous that so many people have died in such a short amount of time."
Sgt O'Dea, who is also a member of the Stanthorpe Road Safety Committee, said not one of the recent crashes had occurred near any of the highway's black spot sites.
Despite each crash being different Sgt O'Dea said they all came down to driver error.
"From our perspective, the road can always be better," Sgt O'Dea said.
"But the road did not play any part in any of these crashes."
Local Member Lawrence Springborg joined the chorus of people asking motorists to take care and drive to the conditions.
"It is sometimes easy to become complacent about road rules, especially if you have been driving for many years, but five fatalities in five weeks is a tragic wake-up call for all of us to take greater care on the roads," Cr Springborg said.
"When it is revealed that things like fatigue and poor driving behaviour contributes to road injuries and fatalities, it is worrying because they are avoidable.
"It is traumatic for all concerned, including the families and loved ones and the emergency services personnel who attend horrific scenes."
While the road did not play a part in any of these crashes, Granite Belt Fruit Freighters director Dudley Abraham said he struggled to see how the New England Highway passed the test for a national highway.
Mr Abraham who has been trucking produce to and from Stanthorpe along the highway for close to 40 years, labelled the road a "disgrace".
"I definitely think it is time for an upgrade. The surface is pretty ordinary and the roads are far too narrow," Mr Abraham said.
"There is just no room for error.
"They have spent a lot of money upgrading and improving the coastal roads. In my book the New England Highway is a disgrace."
The truck driver said traffic had increased along the road, but little had been done to account for that.
Sgt O'Dea agreed that it would be ideal to have more room on either side of the fog lines.
"But if they can't find the money to fix the Eight Mile in Warwick, they are not going to have billions to spend on our roads either," Sg O'Dea said.
The police officer said the road had had subtle upgrades since it was constructed, including overtaking lanes.
"No doubt the road needs better surfacing," he said.
"We have black spots marked and are working to get them fixed."
In the meantime, Stanthorpe Police along with the Warwick Police were able to secure a $25,000 grant from the government to install a series of trivia signs along the New England Highway between Warwick and Wallangarra.
"Historically, fatigue is the biggest contributor to crashes in this region," Sgt O'Dea said.
"The trivia signs will be placed in fatigue zones and will work to encourage more discussion in the car."
Originally published as Five dead in five weeks of havoc
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