NSW: Seven die on NSW roads this Easter - two more than 2005

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2006
NSW: Seven die on NSW roads this Easter - two more than 2005

SYDNEY, April 17 AAP - A head-on crash killed three people in Sydney and almost doubled
the NSW Easter road toll today as the holiday period wound down.

Seven people died on the state's roads this Easter, two more than last year.

Two men, aged in their early 20s, died when their Subaru WRX collided head-on with
a Holden Kingswood shortly after 10.05am (AEST) at Horningsea Park, in Sydney's west,
today.

Police said it appeared the Subaru had crossed to the wrong side of Bringelly Road
before crashing into the car driven by a 75-year-old woman, killing her instantly.

Her elderly male passenger was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition
with severe head injuries.

A backseat passenger in the Subaru, a man in his 20s, was taken hospital in a serious condition.

NSW's traffic services commander, Chief Superintendent John Hartley, said the triple
fatality was an avoidable accident.

"This is a tragedy. It should not have happened," he said.

"We are now mourning the loss of three more people."

The crash took the Easter toll to seven after two single-car accidents overnight.

A Canberra man, aged in his 30s, died when the four-wheel drive in which he was travelling
overturned on Moira Vale Road, near the Melrose to Condobolin Road.

Meanwhile, a 39-year-old was killed when the car he was driving left the road and hit
a tree at Coolangatta Estate, near Nowra, on the NSW south coast.

"I'm extremely disappointed. As of yesterday, only two had died on our roads over the
first two days," Supt Hartley said.

On Thursday, a three-year-old girl was killed in a crash at Mount Kembla, near Wollongong,
and a 17-year-old youth died in a head-on collision near Grafton on Friday.

Supt Hartley said more than 8,500 motorists had been booked for speeding since Thursday.

He said some young drivers had been caught clocking more than 200kph in 80kph and 110kph
zones, and police had stopped people driving with five times the legal alcohol limit.

"These are some alarming statistics," he said.

"Certainly we are concerned about the high number of speeds detected across this state."

Supt Hartley warned young drivers to slow down.

"I reminded people yesterday about young people on our roads, and the road safety message
to them ... to slow down, to take their time," he said.

AAP tr/was/jt/sd

KEYWORD: TOLL NSW NIGHTLEAD

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