Fatal driver phone fear
Police investigating if motorist was on her mobile at time of crash
POLICE are investigating whether the driver of the car that hit and killed Daniel Turner on the side of the M1 at the weekend was using her mobile phone.
Witnesses told the Bulletin they saw the driver swerving across lanes of traffic and a phone in her hands moments before the crash.
“I saw earphones in her ears and saw her looking down and holding a phone,” said one witness, who did not want to be named.
Daniel’s sister, Melanie, said three witnesses had told the family directly they saw the driver on the phone. “Police have to rule out all possibilities ... the driver behind her (told us he) saw her swerving all over the road ... then she collected my brother,” she said.
Gold Coast police declined to comment on the investiga- tion at length, but said in a written statement that forensic officers were following several lines of inquiry, including but not limited to, inattention.
Mr Turner was on his way home to Redcliffe on Sunday after visiting a friend on the Gold Coast when his car broke down at Helensvale.
The 25-year-old pulled into the emergency lane and was working on his car about 11.30am when a red hatchback slammed into the back of his ute, pushing it on top of him.
Witnesses told police the red car was swerving across lanes before the crash.
A woman at the scene said the first question police asked her and other witnesses was if they had seen the female driver on the phone.
The witness said the scene was extremely distressing.
“I went to check the man’s arm, to see if there was any pulse and I was the first to call the emergency services to ensure that the ambulance and police were on the way,” they said.
“I covered the car with a blanket and the emergency services took the woman involved into the ambulance to do checks and she was very distraught. I am going to counselling as I am now scared to drive and if I see vehicles stopped or broken down I freak out.”
Queensland police do not keep statistics of crashes caused by mobile phone use.
Statistics are kept on crashes caused by “driver distraction”, but this could be anything from an insect in the car to sunlight in a driver’s eyes.
RACQ spokeswoman Lauren Ritchie said the motoring body wanted proper data kept on the matter.
“Police tell us anecdotally that distraction/mobile phone use accounts for more than 20 per cent of crashes across the state,” she said.
“There are three types of distraction: visual distraction, where you take your eyes off the road; physical distraction, where your hands are off the wheel; and cognitive distraction, which is when something takes your mind off driving.
“Checking a phone is particularly dangerous because it taps into all three distraction categories.”
No charges have been laid in relation to the crash.