Four people have died after the ute they were travelling in left the road and rolled in northern New South Wales, in another horror smash amid a disastrous period on the state’s roads.
Police were called to Back Channel road in Wardell, near Ballina, at about 5.45am on Saturday after reports of a crash. Officers found that three men and a woman had died at the scene.
The Mazda ute had been driven by one of the men on board, police said.
“A crime scene was established as specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident,” NSW police said in a statement.
“A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.
“Road closures are in place and drivers are urged to avoid the area.”
According to the most recent road toll figures, which have not been updated by the NSW government since midnight Thursday, there had been 49 deaths on the state’s roads – an almost 50% increase on 33 deaths recorded at the same time last year.
The 2023 road toll of 349 deaths was the worst recorded in 15 years, according to the ABC.
It was reported on Thursday that the state’s roads minister, John Graham, had raised the issue of driver behaviour at a road safety conference in Sydney, where industry experts and ministers gathered to discuss a “crisis” year on the state’s roads.
There has been no allegation that Saturday’s crash was the result of poor driver behaviour.
“A small section of our community became used to questioning the rules during Covid, and in some cases, outright flouting them,” he said.
“It only takes a handful of individuals on our roads ignoring the road rules to make it far more dangerous for every one of us, and could be reflected in our road toll.”
Graham said the department was researching if “cookers” – who think rules do not apply to them – were part of the problem.
“I want to be clear – we will not accept cooker-culture on our roads,” he said.
“If that research shows we need to act on this problem, this government will act.”
