Coast’s No.1 killer road revealed as death toll blasted

THE Pacific Motorway is the Gold Coast’s killer road responsible for almost one in six serious casualties, according to new data.

The Bulletin asked Main Roads and Transport to drill down on its research to get a comparison of the M1 to other roads in the city’s congested network.

Responses show the odds of a fatality significantly rise if you are a male, aged between 25 to 59 years, driving on a weekend on the M1.

The data covered the Gold Coast City Council area from Yatala south to Coolangatta between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2017.

Total serious casualties were 656 in 2012, 699 in 2013, 627 in 2014, 607 in 2015 and 678 in 2016. Fatalities reached 27 in 2012, dropped to nine in 2016 only to rise to 18 last year.

For severe crashes on the M1, the serious casualty results for the same years were 91, 101, 90, 87 and 102. Fatalities peaked at eight in 2012.

In terms of age and gender for citywide incidents, 830 women between 25 and 59 were hospitalised and 15 died, double for that of the nearest age group from 17 to 24 years.

For men, aged 25 to 59, 45 died and 1129 were treated at hospital. The worst day for serious road trauma was Saturday (505 cases) followed by Wednesday (504) and Friday (499).

City council transport officers, who have tracked data from 2003 to 2013, said the Coast’s transport system was on average recording two fatalities every month, 55 serious hospital admissions and more than 65 medical treatments.

Their conclusion was the Coast, compared to Brisbane, had more traffic on weekends, many drivers did not know the area and some were using alcohol and drugs after visiting the entertainment precincts.

Officers in the council’s Gold Coast Road Safety Plan said: “Our city’s resident demographics and status as a major tourist and entertainment destination present specific road safety challenges.

“Advances have been made in reducing Gold Coast road trauma … despite this progress, the transport injury and death toll remains at an unacceptably high level.”

Crash mapping showing the hot spots for accidents are Coomera, Nerang, Mudgeeraba and Robina on the M1.