Two fatal accidents occurred on local roads on Sunday, one a truck accident on the Snowy Mountains Highway at Gilmore and the other involving a car crashing into a house at Batlow.
Just after 6am on Sunday emergency services were called to the intersection of Snowy Mountains Highway and Gadara Road, Gilmore, following reports of a single vehicle crash.
On arrival, officers attached to Riverina Police District located a semi-trailer truck, damaged due to a collision into a fence.
It is alleged that a kangaroo jumped in front of the vehicle before the truck was stopped.
The driver of the truck – a 32-year-old man – died at the scene.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident has commenced.
A report will be prepared for the information of Coroner.
As inquiries continue, anyone with information about this incident or dash cam footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
At 12:40pm on Sunday police were called to an address in Batlow Avenue, Batlow after reports a vehicle had collided with a house at that location.
Police attended soon after and observed that a blue Ford Falcon Station wagon had indeed collided with a dwelling on Batlow Avenue. The driver, a 64-year-old male was unconscious and suspected of having suffered a medical episode.
Police assisted ambulance officers with CPR on the 64-year-old driver who was taken to the Batlow Hospital. Sadly, the man could not be revived.
Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.
The NSW road toll is up to 56 deaths this year already. At this time last year it was 37.
In the 12 month period to date, the toll stands at a staggering 370 killed, a big increase over the previous 12 months’ toll of 267.
In 2023, in the 12-month period ending June quarter, 9663 people were hospitalised with serious injuries on NSW roads, compared to 9320 in the previous year.
Jason Thompson, an associate professor at Melbourne University, told the ABC in December 2023 that the uptick in crashes was linked to an increase in people driving.
“When there are more cars on the road, we get more crashes,” Dr Thompson said.
“The correlation is almost one to one.”
Dr Thompson, who is a member of the university’s Transport, Health and Urban Systems Research Lab, said there was evidence to show people bought cars during the pandemic to avoid infection on public transport.
