Premier warns freeway fix no cure-all
Premier Peter Malinauskas says the state government remains committed to examining how to make the South Eastern Freeway safer, but no amount of safety features and legislation could prevent all accidents or poor driving.
Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
Police last night arrested and charged a 60-year-old Queensland man after his Mitsubishi truck towing a trailer ploughed through seven cars and a bus at the Portrush Road and Glen Osmond Road intersection on Sunday afternoon, sending nine people to hospital.
The truck driver, who was among those injured in the crash, has been charged with driving while unlicensed, nine counts of dangerous driving causing harm, endangering life and “numerous national heavy vehicle offences”, police said this morning.
The crash has reignited a debate about the safety of the notorious tollgate intersection, with the Department of Infrastructure and Transport now re-examining whether to install a third arrester bed on the freeway down track.
But Malinauskas said this morning it was a difficult task to prevent all such incidents.
“We can put speed restrictions in place, we can pass legislation requiring truck drivers to use low gear, we can put in the arrester beds, we can do all these safety measures,” he said.
However, if poor driver choices or errors occurred, “well, I’m not too sure what safety mechanisms we can do in an infrastructure sense or in a legislative sense that can stop that from happening”.
The Premier said the state government remained committed to exploring safety options for the intersection which has been the site of multiple crashes and fatalities over the years.
There are two arrester beds – one above the Heysen Tunnels and one below – which are designed to stop trucks and other vehicles if their brakes fail.
The speed limit for all trucks was reduced to 60km/h on the ascent from Crafers after an out-of-control truck smashed into three cars at the intersection in 2014, killing two people.
The coroner’s inquest from that crash also recommended installing a third arrester bed.
“Since the accident I’ve made it clear that we are going to look again … at whether or not we can introduce a third arrester bed,” Malinauskas said.
“There has been a range of measures put in place, there are things we are going to closely examine.
“But ultimately when we’re talking about, particularly in the fiscal environment that we now operate within, we’re using taxpayers dollars very carefully in a way that’s consistent with what we committed to before the election.
“We will look at options, I committed to that before the charges had been laid and I will continue to pursue that.”
