WATCH: Signage questioned after violent crash

"IF YOU come over the top of the hill in a b-double grossing 65 tonne...” - tucking community speaks about safety around roadworks on New England Highway.

RESIDENTS and members of the trucking community have questioned the standard of roadwork signage after a horrific three-vehicle pile-up at a roadwork stopping site on the New England Highway near Dalveen.

Warwick truck driver Stephen Rettke drove his truck along the very same road the following day and said the conditions were 'a bit scary'.

"I just keep thinking, if you come over the top of the hill in a b-double grossing 65 tonne, you miss that first sign, by the time you see the second one and realise what is going on it doesn't give you any chance to pull it up," he said.

Warwick and District Community Road Safety Group secretary Andrew Gale was sitting in the same roadworks on the New England Highway near Dalveen just three hours before the crash occurred.

He said he also felt nervous because the roadworks were positioned in a "high-risk" area at the bottom of a hill and at the end of an overtaking lane.

"When you look at the roadwork signs, one is covered by a big mound of dirt and you can't actually see the traffic lights when driving up because they are behind that green sign," Mr Gale said.

"Anyone with driving experience could tell you that people travel a lot faster near the end of merging lanes and quite often they are distracted by the sheer act of merging.

"I am sure they are all compliant with the regulations, but I would be asking the Department of Main Roads to be reviewing the signage with a view to upgrading it."

Southern Downs residents have sparked a debate on social media about the effectiveness of roadwork warnings.

"I think the problem is, so many roadworks signs are left up when no roadworks is happening, so vehicles fly past them, ignoring them (even though they hold the same authority as the normal speed limit signposts) and then panic when suddenly there are roadworks they weren't expecting," Andi Colt wrote.

"My other half reckons there should be two flag people at each end on duty. One with the stop-slow where they always are and another one further up the road just to bring attention to drivers that there are actually roadworks happening ahead."

Others said drivers should be more attentive to road signs.

"If drivers are paying attention, driving at the right speed, and keeping at safe distance...there's plenty of warning," Marina Joye Taylor wrote.

Police investigations are continuing into the multi-vehicle crash that left four people injured.

Originally published as WATCH: Signage questioned after violent crash