Sunshine Motorway, Coolum Beach blocked after horror head-on crash

More details have emerged surrounding a horror head-on crash that left three people with life-threatening injuries on Saturday afternoon. UPDATES

The scene of a crash on the Sunshine Motorway near Coolum on Saturday, October 19.

Multiple people have suffered life-threatening injuries in a head-on collision on the Sunshine Motorway near Coolum just a day after the funeral for another victim of a crash on the same stretch.

The crash involving a four-wheel drive brought weekend traffic to a standstill.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said the crash happened on the Sunshine Motorway on ramp at Coolum Beach on Saturday afternoon.

In an update on Sunday, a police spokeswoman said a Toyota Hilux, driven by a 38-year-old man, was travelling north on the motorway when it crashed into a Holden Commodore, travelling in the opposite direction.

Witnesses on the scene described the situation as very serious.

The driver of the Hilux, along with the 61-year-old male driver of the commodore and the 55-year-old female passenger were all taken to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital with life threatening injuries, police said.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said there were initially three people trapped in the cars, one being a four-wheel drive, when crews first arrived on scene.

The QAS spokeswoman said one of the men had suffered potentially life-threatening chest injuries.

On Sunday afternoon, a SCUH spokeswoman confirmed all three people were in a stable condition.

The crash comes after a devoted mother, successful doctor and beautiful Sunshine Coast woman was remembered for her love of life and hardworking nature after tragically perishing on the same road.

Dr Ramman Preet Oberoi-Gutteridge died on Monday, October 7, in a crash at Coolum Beach.

The 48-year-old woman was driving a Tesla that collided with a Toyota HiLux on October 7.

The crashes have again ignited debate on the inadequacy of the two-lane, undivided Sunshine Motorway to carry the amount of traffic that it does, particularly on weekends.

“Don’t worry – the state government who can’t afford to build basic safe roads for the Sunshine Coast is giving school kids free lunches and giving themselves constant pay rises,’’ Darren Trinder posted after seeing news of the accident.

Others suggested impatient drivers were just as much to blame for the spate of accidents on the stretch with some overtaking or failing to drive properly on the roundabout at Coolum.

A business case for the duplication of the Sunshine Motorway, between Coolum Yandina Rd and David Low Way, to widen the two-lane road to four lanes, was allocated $3m by the state government in early 2023.

The project was also set to include a new interchange at Yandina-Coolum Rd and a potential interchange at West Coolum Rd.

However, as it stands the future of the project remains uncertain with the preliminary evaluation ongoing. LNP MP for Ninderry Dan Purdie said the motorway was “past its used by date” more than a decade ago, but stopped short of confirming whether the opposition would deliver the duplication if elected later this month.

“The Beattie and Bligh governments first acknowledged the Sunshine Motorway was past its used by date when it released plans to duplicate it in 2008, making the same commitment again in 2020,” Mr Purdie said.

Originally published as Sunshine Motorway, Coolum Beach blocked after horror head-on crash