NSW: An increasing country road toll baffles police

AAP General News (Australia)
12-27-1998
NSW: An increasing country road toll baffles police

By Rebecca Thurlow

SYDNEY, Dec 27 AAP - Country roads had claimed the lives of almost three quarters of road
accident victims this Christmas, New South Wales police said today.

Police traffic commander Ron Sorrenson said 11 out of the 16 people killed in car accidents
in New South Wales since the holiday period began on December 18, were travelling on country
roads.

While the annual road toll in the Sydney metropolitan area had been decreasing over the
past two years, deaths on country roads were increasing, and police did not know why,
Superintendent Sorrenson said.

"That I don't know. We've been looking at that and if you know the answer to that you've
got a job here," Supt Sorrenson said.

Last year's metropolitan road toll was the lowest in 50 years, he said.

The metropolitan fatalities were 36 fewer than for the same period in 1996, yet the country
fatalities were up 33 on the same period in 1996.

"For this year the fatalities in the metro area are down 43 on that last year record low,
but they are up 19 in the country," he said

The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) was searching for a cause of the worrying trend,
Superintendent Sorrenson said.

Police were gathering intelligence to see which areas most needed targeting.

"You're never going to have enough resources to saturate the state entirely, but what you
need to do is deploy them to the most appropriate areas," he said.

The state's Christmas holiday toll rose to 16 overnight, after four people died in three
accidents.

Police said a 72-year-old woman and her 40-year-old son were killed when their car hit a
concrete culvert and rolled off the Barrier Highway at Cobar at 4.30pm (AEDT) yesterday.

Another man died in a head-on smash when a car crossed to the wrong side of the Pacific
Highway, south of Grafton, in the state's north, at 5.20am (AEDT).

A third man died when his station wagon ran off the road and burst into flames in a
single-car accident near Williamtown, north of Newcastle, also at 5.20am (AEDT).

During the last six days of Operation Safe Arrival, police presence in the west of NSW
would be increased, he said.

Twenty motorcycle police would patrol the Newell, Mitchell and Lachlan Valley highways on
New Years Eve, he said.

Supt Sorrenson said speed had been a factor in half of the accidents during the holiday
period.

"Most of our collisions that we've had have been single vehicles that are leaving the road
and rolling over," he said.

"... the indications to us are that inappropriate speed has played a part in more than half
of those deaths."

He said many people had clearly not got the message that speed kills.

AAP rat/sb/trm/de

KEYWORD: TOLL NSW COUNTRY

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