The two single vehicle crashes both left a mangled wreck at the side of the road but the human tolls were very different.

In the first crash, on a notorious country road north of Bathurst at Turondale, a 4WD Subaru ute left the road about 1.30am on Saturday and crashed into a tree before rolling on its side.

Residents who drove past the wreckage as the sun came up on Saturday morning feared the worst, wondering how anyone could have survived what looked like a devastating impact.

So they were pleasantly stunned to learn the driver – the sole occupant of the car – had been taken to hospital suffering little more than a broken arm.

It was an incredible escape but could so easily have been so different.

But it was a much different story following a second crash just hours later.

This time, a Toyota LandCruiser left the road and rolled about 50 kilometres south of Bathurst near Gilmandyke.

Emergency services that were called to the crash arrived to find a horrifying scene.

One man was already dead and two more were badly hurt.

One of those men was airlifted to Liverpool Hospital where he tragically later died.

Police are continue their investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash and will prepare a report for the coroner, but no-one will ever be able to properly explain the fine line between a miracle escape and a terrible tragedy.

Nor will we ever really understand the countless small variables that combine to leave one family thankful their loved one was not more seriously hurt at Turondale while two more families are left to mourn lives cut short.

But what the weekend does show us is that we can never become complacent behind the wheel of a car.

Tragedy can strike in a split-second so we owe it to ourselves, our passengers and other road users to be alert at all times.

We must always respect the privilege of driving and yet appreciate just what is at stake at all times, because when we lose control of a vehicle, regardless of the reason, we lose control of what the outcome will be.

If we’re lucky, it might be another miracle escape. If we’re not, then the outcome can be too painful to bear.