Oh not again... "Teens killed in 4WD rollover"
Submitted: Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:15
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Member - Chrispy (NSW)
Teens killed in 4WD rollover
August 03, 2005
From: AAP
TWO teenagers were killed and two others seriously injured when their vehicle flipped over on a stretch of highway near
Meekatharra, in Western Australia's Gascoyne region.
WA Police said the 19-year-old female driver and her 17-year-old female front-
seat passenger died in hospital following the crash on the Great Northern Highway, 11km north of
Meekatharra, about 1.40pm (3.40pm AEST) yesterday.
Two other passengers – girls aged 15 and possibly 12 – were taken to the local hospital but were to be airlifted to
Perth today for treatment of leg injuries, a police spokesman said.
They were both seriously ill but stable, he said.
WA Police will examine whether the girls were wearing seatbelts.
It is understood three of the passengers were thrown from the Toyota Landcruiser when it rolled end-over-end.
"At this stage we believe three out of the four weren't wearing belts," the spokesman said.
"We believe there might have been a fatigue factor involved."
The teenagers were believed to have been driving from
Port Hedland to
Perth via
Meekatharra.
Reply By: Dan - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:18
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:18
Thats devistating!
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Follow Up By: Two Dogs - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:35
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:35
yeah, it sickening every time i read this stuff.
take it easy Dan.
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Reply By: chump_boy - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:42
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 15:42
That is terribly tragic accident. Hope it doesn't get miscronstrued as an anti 4wd thing.
A couple of points that stand out to me:
"it rolled end-over-end" - damn. That would be pretty hard to do in any car, let alone a landcruiser. I don't spose it would have had much to do with a high centre of gravity either. Probably went off the side, nose first into a ditch or something. If it hadn't have been a 4WD, it probably would have plowed straight into the ground, imploding instantly....
"At this stage we believe three out of the four weren't wearing belts" - when will people learn? If they had
seat belts on, they could have been a lot better off.
"We believe there might have been a fatigue factor involved." - again, when will people learn? These types of accidents are easily avoided.
It is such a tragic waste of
young lives......
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 16:13
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 16:13
Yes as tragic as it is, I have to agree with all your points, how the hell you get a landcruiser to roll end on end on the highway is a mystery to me! It's a pretty boring stretch of road up there and it is renowned for having MASSIVE big red roos which they may have swerved to avoid (perhaps, only my own thoughts here).
A freind of
mine went to sleep driving a 100 series and rolled it at 110k's and hour, there was nothing left of the vehicle, he walked away. He WAS wearing his seatbelt... Food for thought everyone.
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Follow Up By: motherhen - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 18:22
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 18:22
So tragic. The
young think they are invulnerable. They must have been travelling pretty fast. Speed, youth and inexperience.
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Follow Up By: joc45 - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 18:47
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 18:47
Jeff, I was a passenger in a landcruiser which end-for-ended on the Nullarbor years ago, on flat, straight road. Just the way the inexperienced driver tried to get out of a slide on the gravel edge, and wheee! Another story how he got into the slide in the first place. Interesting experience in the tapestry of life, tho wouldn't like to go thru it again....
Gerry
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Reply By: Footloose - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 18:25
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 18:25
Every year we lose 2000+ people on our roads.
If we lost that many troops in Iraq it would devestate us.
But as a society we just appear to accept these deaths.
Most didn't have to happen.
We can change the figures downward, but it has to start with each and every one of us when we get behind the wheel.
I'll never forget what the cop who handed me my first driving license said "Congratulations, here's your license to kill".
Sorry guys, not meaning to preach. But when I hear of people doing 110k on the
Birdsville track etc, I shudder.
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Follow Up By: Exploder - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 19:10
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 19:10
When I first herd of it I though swerved to miss a roo, emu goat, other possibilities include Blow out at high speed, falling asleep at the weal.
Footloose, of the 15,000,0000 Australian’s who travel in automobiles probably every day and the millions of combined kilometres travelled each year 2000 is a pretty small number and I would say an acceptable one, and yes it is a tragedy that any die on the road’s but the fact is that we will never see 0 death’s on the roads. With the
population on the rise which every body seems to be happy about (Can’t understand it my-self) it is most likely that that number will regrettably climb as
well.
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Follow Up By: Member - Camper (SA) - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 20:22
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 20:22
Agree entirely and with the recent evidence about maturation of human brains you would have to wonder whether any of us should have held a licence before 25 years of age.
Camper
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Reply By: ellmcg - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 23:49
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 23:49
Well, I sure hope it doesn't get mis-construed as a '
young driver' thing either...
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, Aug 04, 2005 at 14:27
Thursday, Aug 04, 2005 at 14:27
Why?
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Reply By: V8Diesel - Thursday, Aug 04, 2005 at 08:47
Thursday, Aug 04, 2005 at 08:47
Shocking. I know that area very
well and it is a looooong, boring run down from Kumarina.
Fatigue or swerving to avoid a boomer or sheep? Lotsa roos around as mentioned, I hit two at the same time one night in both headlights just up the road from there.
There's not much to hit but there are a few floodways. If they speared into a soft muddy shoulder at 110km/h I can see how it could end for end.
My heart goes out to the family and my thoughts are with the injured girls.
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Reply By: sean - Thursday, Aug 04, 2005 at 20:22
Thursday, Aug 04, 2005 at 20:22
If I get into to trouble, my patrol is more dangerous to its occupants than any of my cars.
My patrol does not handle like a car and I drive it accordingly.
Sean
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