The partner of a young man killed in a car crash in Far North Queensland has spoken of her love for the Cairns carpenter with a "heart of gold".
Jesse Rodman, 26, was one of four people who died on the region's roads in as many days.
Police said they were struggling to understand the rise in fatalities.
Mr Rodman, who had just started his own business, was driving a four-wheel-drive when it collided with a truck and another vehicle at Gordonvale, south of Cairns, on Friday morning.
His partner Micayla Balsamo said the couple had been planning a family together when his life was tragically cut short, devastating his Sunshine Coast-based family and many friends.
"There are no words for the kind of love we shared, it was a deep unconditional type of love," Ms Balsamo said.
"He was one in a million with a heart of gold."
She said Mr Rodman was honest, loyal, caring, genuine and happy.
She said he was always joking around and making people laugh.
"When you were loved by him, you knew it," she said.
"His beautiful, perfect family have been left without their cherished little boy, without a little brother, without an uncle, a nephew.
"Words cannot describe the gut-wrenching pain and heartache they are going through."
Police said they were perplexed at how to curb the sharp increase in the region's road toll.
A 39-year-old man died in hospital on Monday morning from critical injuries sustained when he lost control of his car at a roundabout and crashed into a shed on Sunday night in the Cairns suburb of Trinity Beach.
Meanwhile, a motorcyclist in his 60s died on Saturday morning when his bike crashed into the back of a tractor on Cape Tribulation Road at Lower Daintree, 100km north of Cairns.
The motorcyclist's female passenger, aged in her 30s, died soon after in hospital.
Police on Monday said they believed speed was a factor in the motorcycle crash, while alcohol was being treated as a factor in the Trinity Beach crash.
There have been 33 fatalities in the Far North region this year, up from 18 in 2021.
'Selfish people' frustrating police
Cairns police officer Inspector Mark Henderson said the collisions were "avoidable incidents that could've been prevented".
"We're really struggling to understand why this is happening and what we can do to stop it," he said.
"There are a lot of selfish people still driving around as if they own the road, as if they're the only one on the road.
"It's been a terrible year and it's got to stop."
Inspector Henderson said police were diverting resources to road safety operations heading into the holiday period.
He said emergency services were "stretched" by the extent of road crashes across such a vast area and pleaded with people to be more safety conscious.
"We need to talk about this at the work Christmas parties, we need to ensure our colleagues are not drink driving when they leave the party," he said.
Inspector Henderson also urged people to call triple-0 if they knew of someone about to drive while affected by alcohol.
"You could be saving that person's life," he said.
"You could be saving the life of some poor innocent driver driving down the road."
