Saturday 13, Mar 2010
Another Fraser Island fatality
Monday 14, Dec 2009
Monday 14, Dec 2009
There's growing calls for four wheel drive tag along tours on Fraser Island after another tragic rollover on Eastern Beach.
Many say the carnage won't stop if inexperienced drivers are still allowed to travel solo.
A Christmas holiday cut tragically short.
This now crumpled four wheel drive rolled over at Indian Head at 9.40am yesterday morning.
The male front passenger was killed, the seven other occupants, all injured.
Paramedic Darren Searle said, “They've all got facial abrasions, fractures, and just multiple injuries.”
It's an all too common sight on Fraser Island.
In the past six years there's been forty two serious accidents.
Four wheel driver Matthew Connolly said, “It's probably not that surprising, I've been here for about five days now and pretty much everywhere you go you've got inexperienced tourists.”
Earlier this year the State Government dropped the speed limit on Eastern Beach from one hundred kilometres an hour to eighty, but still the deaths continue.
Fraser Island Police’s Sergeant Roger Williams said, “It's a maximum speed of eighty kilometres an hour and there's times when you just can't do that speed so the real message is to just drive to the conditions at the time.”
Most agree an earlier rollout of proposed state government four wheel drive regulations would have done little to prevent yesterday's tragedy.
Manager of Fraser Coast South Burnett Tourism, Damien Massingham said, “The Department of Transport's own figures show that the number one reason for accidents on Fraser Island is inexperienced driving.”
Both Mr Massingham and the Member for Hervey Bay Ted Sorrensen say introducing tag along tours is the only solution to the ongoing problem.
“Well you have a professional driver driving the lead vehicle and that way the professional driver would know the conditions of Fraser Island, the sand and everything like that on the Island,” Ted Sorrensen said.
Today State Transport Minister Rachel Nolan admitted tougher vehicle restrictions may be needed, but said she'd wait on a police report before any decision is made.
It's believed the driver involved in yesterday's crash remains in intensive care at Royal Brisbane.
Five passengers were expected to be discharged from hospital this afternoon.
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