Coroner calls for flexible tethers on tow hitch after car crash death of Jan Juc mum Sarah Tonkin

Jan Juc mum Sarah Tonkin was killed in 2019 after a tow hitch was flicked through her windscreen by a passing truck. A Victorian coroner says a simple change could have stopped it.

Sarah Tonkin, 37, died after a large steel tow hitch hit her car in 2019. Picture: Herald Sun

A truck part which flew into a mum’s windscreen, killing her as she drove her eight-month-old son, had not been properly secured, a Coroner has found.

Jan Juc woman Sarah Tonkin, 37, died after a large steel tow hitch was flicked up off the road by a passing truck and smashed into her windscreen as she and her baby Austin were driving home from her aunt’s funeral in Bacchus Marsh on December 13, 2019.

Instantly incapacitated, the mother’s Hyundai Tucson SUV veered off Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Rd at Balliang East before rolling on its side and crashing into a tree.

Austin survived the crash while Ms Tonkin was declared dead at the scene.

Sarah Tonkin died as she drove with her eight-month-old son Austin who survived. Picture: Supplied

The tow hitch which caused the deadly crash belonged to an Isuzu truck which was being driven from Winter & Taylor, a truck dealership in Corio, to a new owner in Sunbury.

Coroner Judge Audrey Jamieson, who investigated Ms Tonkin’s death, found the truck had travelled approximately 35 kilometres before the tow hitch dislodged without the driver’s knowledge.

Victoria Police’s Heavy Vehicle Unit Criminal Investigation Unit interrogated the history of the truck, examining safety inspection records as part of its investigation.

An analysis of the evidence found the tow hitch had not been properly secured in the towbar by the hitch pin.

“However, what remained unclear was whether the tow hitch was inadvertently installed incorrectly, or whether the hitch pin securing the tow hitch was removed by an unknown person while the Isuzu was parked at Winter & Taylor between 28 November and 13 December 2019,” Judge Jamieson said.

The crash occurred on the Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Rd at Balliang East in December 2019. Picture: 7 News

Sarah Tonkin with her husband Gregor Jeffery and their son Austin. Picture: Supplied

The truck had been parked in a yard accessible to the public where thefts had been reported.

Judge Jamieson said it was unclear who was responsible for ensuring the tow hitch was installed safely and correctly, making it difficult for her to identify “prevention opportunities”.

She said the risk of future similar incidents could be “significantly reduced” if hitch pins were attached by a flexible tether such as a chain of cable so the part would remain attached to the vehicle if it dislodged or fell during travel.

VicRoads and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator will be urged to consider the proposal in addition to further industry changes to ensure the tow hitch assembly is checked by vehicle assessors to ensure they have been installed correctly and safely.

Ms Tonkin and her husband Gregor Jeffery married in May 2014 and after many years of trying to conceive, were “over the moon” to welcome Austin in April 2019.

“Their lives were really just beginning,” her father Richard Tonkin previously told the Herald Sun

Originally published as Coroner calls for flexible tethers on tow hitch after car crash death of Jan Juc mum Sarah Tonkin