By Perry Duffin and Megan Gorrey
Two drivers are dead, another has been charged over a triple-fatal smash, and seven people are in hospital following separate car crashes across NSW just days out from Christmas.
Images from one crash, where a teen driver allegedly slammed into a car carrying a woman and three children, show the carnage of the state’s spiralling road toll.
One of the vehicles involved in the Milperra Road crash.Credit: Nine
NSW Police were patrolling Milperra, in the city’s south-west, at 2am on Saturday when a car allegedly drove past at 140km/h in a 70km/h zone.
Police said officers turned on their lights and sirens just as the car smashed into a 4WD.
A woman, aged 43, and three children, aged 10, 14 and 15, were trapped in the 4WD until paramedics could free them. They were taken to hospital with serious injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
The driver in the allegedly speeding white car, pictured with its front end caved in, is an 18-year-old man who was taken to Liverpool Hospital under police guard for mandatory testing. His two passengers, also 18, were taken to the same hospital. All are believed to be in stable conditions.
The driver was charged late on Saturday with 11 offences including aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and negligent driving. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Sunday.
Photographs show the blue 4WD surrounded by debris and broken glass, with its frame crumpled and axles snapped by the impact. A child’s car seat stood on the footpath nearby.
The vehicle was pushed up against a power pole that was already adorned with white crosses and flowers from a previous crash.
Meanwhile, a driver was charged on Saturday over a crash that claimed three lives on Wednesday.
Emergency services rushed to the Kamilaroi Highway, outside Curlewis about 20 kilometres south of Gunnedah, after a sedan smashed into a tree about 6.30am.
A driver has been charged after a crash on a NSW highway in Gunnedah left three people dead, and a passenger injured.Credit: Nine News
A 27-year-old man and two women, aged 24 and 25, all died at the scene.
The 24-year-old male driver sustained injuries to his arm and chest and was taken to Tamworth Hospital for treatment and tests.
His female passenger, a 25-year-old woman, was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle with facial, lower leg and pelvic injuries. She was in a serious condition.
The driver was taken to Tamworth police station and charged on Saturday with three counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and one count of negligent driving occasioning death.
He was bailed to appear at Tamworth Local Court on January 22.
NSW Police have also launched a critical incident investigation into the circumstances in which a 22-year-old motorcycle rider collided with a vehicle in Frenchs Forest after police attempted to stop the motorcycle. In a media release, police said officers had turned on their warning lights briefly but had not initiated a pursuit for safety reasons.
The motorcycle had collided with a second vehicle shortly after, police said, but its passengers were uninjured. The man was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.
Police conduct critical incident investigations when officers are involved in incidents resulting in the death or serious injury of a person.
NSW has experienced a horror run-up to the Christmas holiday period on the roads.
In the state’s far north, a man who was yet to be formally identified died when his car crashed into a tree on The Coast Road, just south of Lennox Head, about 2.30pm on Saturday.Just before 5pm on Friday, police were told a drunk driver was trying to use a drive-thru at a fast food restaurant at Edmondson Park, in Sydney’s west. Highway patrol officers stopped the white ute in nearby Leppington and the driver allegedly blew a reading of 0.198 – almost four times the legal limit. The man allegedly failed to submit to a secondary test and threw the swab back at the officer. He was charged with high-range drink-driving, refusing to provide a sample, assaulting an officer and two counts of hindering or resisting an officer. He was refused bail to appear in court on Saturday.Police also reported a road fatality resulting from an accident on December 15. A 27-year-old man had been driving along Jedda Road in Prestons, in Sydney’s south-west, when his car smashed into a power pole. He was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition, but he died of his injuries at around 11.40am on Friday. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
This time last year the road toll across NSW was 270. This year to date, it is about 350.
Wet weather is predicted across much of NSW in the coming days as a low-pressure trough deepens off the east coast over Christmas. Emergency services hold concerns it will create dangerous conditions on the road.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting heavy rainfall, strong winds, hail and possible supercells after Sunday.
“We’re expecting 50 to 100 millimetres rainfall in parts of the state from Sunday, and we are concerned about the potential for flash flooding and storm damage,” SES Deputy Commissioner Deb Platz said.
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