Truckie faces court over highway crash
Defendant’s solicitor declares ‘we are in for a fight’
A TRUCK driver badly injured in a horror three-vehicle smash on the Bruce Highway north of Townsville late last year has been charged for his alleged role in the accident.
Timothy Graeme Wright, 27, fronted the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday, January 26, charged with allegedly driving without due care and attention or driving without reasonable consideration for other road users in relation to the crash at Yuruga on September 5.
The accident involved a semi-trailer, a utility vehicle and a Volvo truck, all travelling south, left two people seriously injured and blocked the Bruce Highway for six hours.
The 56-year-old driver of the semi-trailer, from Brisbane, was uninjured while the driver of the ute, a 40-yearold man, also from Ingham suffered serious chest and abdominal injuries.
He was transported to Ingham Hospital by ambulance but later flown to Townsville University Hospital.
Wright, the driver of the Volvo truck following both vehicles, was entrapped in the vehicle for 90 minutes before he was extracted and flown directly to TUH.
Appearing in court, the Ingham man pleaded “not guilty” when the charge was read to him by Acting Magistrate Scott Luxton.
Magistrate Luxton asked Queensland Police Service Prosecutor Harriet Hearn how long she would need to furnish the defence with the outline of the case against Wright, who first appeared in the Ingham court on December 15, 2022
“Should I allow a six- or eight-week adjournment in that circumstance for the brief of evidence?”
Ms Wright said the brief from police investigators had already been ordered but would be subject to a substantial delay before the case could proceed.
“There is an update to that file: that the material we are awaiting is the telecommunications material and it’s likely to take another three months.”
Defence lawyer Darren Robinson of Salt Legal said he had no objections to the delay.
Magistrate Luxton adjourned the case till April 20 for a hearing mention, extending Wright’s bail to that date.
Outside the court, Mr Robinson reiterated that the charge was contested.
“We are in for a fight,” he said.