BATHURST recorded a heartbreaking statistic on Tuesday – eight people killed in accidents on the region’s roads this year.
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The latest was a 19-year-old man from Raglan who died when the four-wheel-drive he was driving along Limekilns Road at Limekilns left the road and rolled.
The accident occurred about 5.30pm and while emergency services were called and rendered first-aid, he died at the scene. No one else was in the vehicle.
It was the latest in a sad string of fatal accidents around Bathurst, and indeed the state, this year.
The NSW road toll already sits at 343 fatalities which is higher than the 303 recorded during the entire 12 months of 2015.
In Bathurst, many of the fatal accidents have occurred on highways surrounding the city, including one on August 7, where a 56-year-old woman was killed in an accident on the Mitchell Highway.
Then on October 21, two teen males, aged 17 and 18, were killed in a single-vehicle crash at Gilmandyke south of Bathurst.
A 25-year-old male driver was killed when his ute ran off the road on the Great Western Highway at Glanmire on November 21.
There were no witnesses so we can only really use our forensic services and piece it together.
- Chifley Command Chief Inspector Chris Sammut
Many other people have been left seriously injured in the spate of accidents.
Chifley Local Area Command Chief Inspector Chris Sammut said road, weather and speed factors will be considered in the investigation into Tuesday’s fatality.
“There were no witnesses so we can only really use our forensic services and piece it together,” Chief Inspector Sammut said.
He said it had been raining and the bitumen was wet.
Road safety expert Matt Irvine said male drivers are over-represented when it comes to fatal accidents, and without attributing fault to a certain driver, males are behind the wheel of 90 per cent of fatal accidents.
Without attributing blame to any drivers involved in recent fatalities in Bathurst, Mr Irvine said generally men have a different mindset behind the wheel than women.
They are not concerned by bad road or weather conditions, fatigue, other motorists or large trucks driving near them and will “push on” and keep driving, he said.
“Anecdotally, women back off, they have a lot better risk factor,” Mr Irvine said.
“The immediate response for a woman is to back off; guys just don’t tend to back off. Men are not scared or put off or intimidated by a bad road.”
He urged motorists to slow down and drive to the conditions.