Tasmania’s 2023 road toll moves to 10 after two women die in crashes over Easter long weekend
Two women have become the latest tragedies of Tasmania’s roads after separate crashes within 48 hours over the Easter long weekend, bringing the 2023 road toll into double digits. DETAILS >
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Two women have become the latest tragedies of Tasmania’s roads after separate crashes within 48 hours over the Easter long weekend, bringing the 2023 road toll into double digits.
The death of a 29-year-old woman in a crash on the East Tamar Highway near Bell Bay at about 6.30am on Sunday comes two days after a woman died in a two-car crash near Copping.
The 29-year-old woman was understood to be driving north in a silver Mitsubishi Magna from Launceston to George Town to visit family on Sunday when the crash occurred.
Speaking to media on Sunday afternoon, Inspector Luke Manhood said initial investigations had indicated the woman had lost control while on a sweeping left-hand bend and crashed off the right hand side of the road.
He said the woman, who was the sole occupant of the car, had been thrown from the car as it rolled and left the roadway, indicating that she may not have been wearing her seatbelt.
Another driver came across the incident shortly after the crash.
He said while family members of the woman they believed had died in the crash had attended the scene, they would not be able to formally identify the woman until Monday.
“Unfortunately she hasn’t been positively identified at this stage; we believe she is a 29-year-old woman from George Town,” Inspector Manhood said.
Investigations into the crash, including its cause, are ongoing.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Her death brings the state’s road toll for 2023 to 10, a figure Inspector Manhood said was “just under” where Tasmania was this time last year for road deaths.
“And as we know that was a horrific year,” he said.
“We really need every driver to pay attention to their driving.”
Fifty-one people died on Tasmania’s roads in 2022.
Inspector Manhood said factors including speeding, distracted driving, drugs and alcohol, and not wearing a seatbelt were all contributors of fatal traffic crashes.
On Friday morning a woman who was a passenger in a white MG SUV died after a two-vehicle crash on the Arthur Highway near Copping.
The male driver of the MG was taken to Royal Hobart Hospital with minor injuries.
The 26-year-old female driver of the second car, a Toyota Camry, as well as her passenger, another woman, were taken to Royal Hobart Hospital with minor injures.
An infant, which had also been travelling in the Camry, was uninjured.
After the crash, a section of the Arthur Hghway near Blue Hills Rd was closed for hours.
On Saturday afternoon, Tasmania Police charged the 26-year-old Camry driver with causing death by dangerous driving, sa well as other traffic offences.
She appeared in an after-hours session in Hobart Magistrates Court on Saturday.
Inspector Manhood urged drivers not to become complacent in their driving, and said these incidents could happen to anyone.
Replicating ‘90s ‘heydays’ key to reaching housing target
The experts say a replicating construction in the early 90s could be key for Tasmania to reverse a recent slowdown in new builds to hit key national targets. Here’s how.
Expert reveals how police catch online child predators
With several Tasmanians sent to prison for child exploitation and grooming crimes recently, a UTAS expert has detailed the lengths that police go to stop young people from being harmed online.