A 50-year-old woman died on Saturday morning after the motorcycle she was on crashed on the Great Western Highway near Yetholme.

A man was also badly hurt in the crash and police are yet to interview him about the circumstances of the accident.

Regardless of how this happened, though, another family has been left grieving and many lives have been changed forever.

Sadly, the Yetholme crash was just one of several across the state, prompting another reminder from police for motorists to take care on our roads at all times.

The state has been hit with some terrible weather in recent weeks but that alone cannot explain this alarming rise in road deaths.

Police are also concerned that the increasing use of mobile phone by drivers – despite warnings and laws designed to curb such behaviour – is also creating attention on the roads, sometimes with fatal results.

Again, though, that cannot explain every accident either.

If there was a single silver bullet to end road deaths it would have been employed years ago.

Instead, it is a lot of small things that each of us must do every time we get behind the wheel or on a bike that will ultimately make a difference.

In normal conditions, road experts recommend a three-second gap to the car in front of you on the road, doubled to six seconds in the wet.

It’s not only speed either, drivers need to take extra care in all aspects of their driving by accelerating and steering smoothly and applying steady pressure on the brakes rather than slamming them on.

Make sure you can see and be seen – use your demister to keep your windows from fogging up and replace old windscreen wipers.

Especially in an area like ours where fog is common, turn on your lights. It’s a simple measure, but studies show it’s an effective one. Keep an eye out for water gathering in dips or unseen potholes, creating deceptively deep pools ready to make cars glide out of control.

But the most important thing is patience.

No matter where you’re going, getting there a few minutes later is better than not getting there at all.