Truck Driver Faces Charges Over Truck Rollover

A B-Double truck driver was rushed to the hospital last week after his vehicle rolled near Cunningham’s Gap at Tregony.

The man was helped by bystanders and later taken to Warwick Hospital after his B-Double crashed around 8:15am. He was treated for leg, back and head injuries. The man is in a stable condition.

According to reports, The Cunningham Highway was partially blocked and police were conducting traffic control. Fire crews were called in to clean up a small diesel spill at the scene.

Later reports say the truck driver has been ordered to appear in court over the accident.

The truck was carrying cardboard at the time of the crash at the southern entrance of the town, causing the highway to be blocked for more than 4 hours on Wednesday morning.

The Victorian man has been ordered to appear in Goondiwindi Magistrates Court in late June for allegedly driving without due care and attention.

Read more here.

Queensland’s Highway to Hell

The highway on which the crash occurred, The Cunningham Highway has been labelled Queensland’s “Highway to Hell”.

According to an article on TheChronicle.com.au 391 crashes, have occurred between 2001 and 2013. According to the post, the major arterial is the region’s number one accident zone.

An analysis of Queensland Government accident data revealed that there were 1837 vehicle crashes in the Southern Downs Regional Council area in the 13 years. The report revealed that road conditions play a major part in the severity of crashes. The government is apparently committing millions to addressing the problems.

Mayor Peter Blundell said high-crash zones were under investigation and part of the region’s high crash rate came from the number of key highways in the area as well as its’ proximity to the New South Wales border.

Mayor Blundell explained:

“The region covers the junction of the New England and Cunningham highways creating a very large traffic load as well as the added traffic pressure of the southern end of the council area being the gateway to Queensland from New South Wales and beyond,” he said.

“The council has been very proactive in this area and lobbied strongly for changes to the Eight Mile intersection – just north of the Warwick – which is a high crash zone.

“Council met with Maranoa MP Bruce Scott and Southern Downs MP Lawrence Springborg in 2013 to impress on the State and Federal governments’ representatives the importance of creating a safer intersection.

Source: http://www.thechronicle.com.au

The council has also reduced the speed in that area from 80kmh to 60kmh and added new barriers to the area.

RACQ senior road safety adviser Joel Tucker explained that while improving roads would help to an extent, driver behaviour, which is up to the individual, is ultimately responsible for road safety.

Read more about it here.