Tasmania’s road toll hits 30 after three crashes within a horrific 48 hours

The state’s road toll has already surpassed last year’s total – with three months still remaining in the year – after a string of fatal crashes over the weekend.

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TASMANIA’S road toll has hit 30 with three months still to go until the end of the year.

It comes after a horrific 48 hours on the state’s road, with four deaths and several injuries from three crashes over Friday and Saturday.

Tasmania Police Acting Sergeant Adam Hall from Crash Investigation Services said the road toll was 24 this time last year, with the year’s total reaching 29.

He was one of the officers that attended two crashes on Saturday — a collision between a Mack truck and a car near Bagdad, and a fatality on the Arthur Highway near Copping.

The first crash took place about 4.10pm just south of the Bagdad Roadhouse on a straight section of highway.

The 28-year-old driver and passenger in the Mack truck were uninjured in the collision, but the 21-year-old Moonah man driving a north-bound red Toyota Corolla was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

“Early indications suggest that the truck driver did take evasive action, however, was unable to avoid a collision with the north-bound Toyota Corolla,” Acting Sergeant Hall said.

“The evidence suggests to us that inattention and distraction on behalf of the driver of the Toyota Corolla is a contributing factor in the crash.”

He said the 21-year-old was trapped in his vehicle for almost an hour.

“Emergency services, both volunteer and career from TFS and SES from the local area, worked hard to extract the male who was then airlifted to the Royal Hobart Hospital with pelvic injuries.”

The second crash took place about 5.50pm about 6km from Copping on a section of road referred to as the Red Hill.

A 29-year-old Tranmere woman in a south-bound black Volkswagen station wagon had her three-year-old son in the back passenger seat in a child restraint.

A 25-year-old Dunalley woman was travelling with her 52-year-old mother in a north-bound silver Hyundai hatch.

“Initial investigations suggest that the driver of the south-bound Volkswagen lost control on a left-hand curve in the road, possibly because of the wet road conditions,” Acting Sergeant Hall said.

“As a result of the crash, tragically the 52-year-old female has died at the scene.

“At this stage there’s no indication to say speed was a factor, however, whether or not that driver was driving to the conditions is part of our investigations.”

He said the rapid rise in the state’s road toll was very concerning.

“The reason why all these crashes are happening is definitely being looked at considering we’ve had three or four months of COVID where there’s been a lot less vehicles on the road.”

He said his message for Tasmanians was simple: “Abide by the rules and drive to the conditions — it’s as simple as that.”

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