No cars stopped to help driver

NEARLY 60 competing cars drove past the location of a crash where a 68-year-old driver died at a Targa Tasmania event at Mt Arrowsmith near Strahan in April.

Shane Navin died after losing control of the vehicle, before it went off road and rolled six metres before coming to rest upside-down in a creek.

A report into the tragedy looked at the inability of the co-driver to obtain assistance, noting several cars drove past.

“This raises the important question of why it was that almost 60 competing cars went past the location of the crash of car 602 yet none of their crews were able to be utilised in any rescue attempt,” the report said.

“It is highly likely that at least four cars would have driven past the location within the two minutes following the incident.”

The report said crews would not have been able to see the car.

Cars involved in a crash are required to immediately exit the vehicle, if possible, and put out safety triangles to warn oncoming cars.

Crews are equipped with signs required to be displayed, including an “OK” sign to signal cars may pass and an “SOS” sign to show drivers must stop and assist.

“Very importantly, this procedure demands that if a crew sees a stopped car on a stage and no OK or SOS sign is displayed and no safety triangles have been put out, they must stop at the stopped car on the assumption that the reason why no OK sign is displayed is because the crew are trapped or injured,” the report said.

The report said crew are routinely briefed on this procedure, but due to Covid restrictions there was no crew briefing to Targa Tasmania 2021.

Instead a prerecorded video, which included the safety procedure, was sent to competitors but there was no system of confirming crews had actually watched it.

The co-driver of the vehicle, Glenn Evans, who sustained minor injuries, had attempted to save Mr Navin but was unsuccessful.

The report said Mr Evans climbed the embankment to the roadway and attempted to flag down a driver, but none stopped.

“The crew of cars which passed the incident gave evidence that they saw a person in a race suit waving their arms but did not interpret it as a call for assistance, rather a gesture to keep going,” the report said.

“The tribunal accepts that the co-driver was in an extremely stressful situation and also that the OK/SOS board may not have been easily removed from the car,” the report said.

Recommendation 15 of 23 said an easily recognisable sign needed to be agreed on and suggested using crossed arms as a signal.