Death toll worst in 11 years

The Great Southern is facing the grim prospect of doubling its road toll from last year after a horror month on the roads lifted the number of deaths to its highest in 11 years.

The death of a Mt Barker man in a fatal head-on crash on Albany Highway on Monday afternoon pushed the region’s road toll to 24 after the fourth death in as many weeks in November.

The road toll has only reached more than 20 on one other occasion since 2005 when 24 road deaths were recorded in 2014.

Police say they are unsure how the Mt Barker man came to be on the incorrect side of the road and died in the horrific head-on crash on Albany Highway on Monday afternoon.

The 45-year-old man was tra-velling north on Albany Highway when his white Mitsubishi Magna collided with a Nissan X-trail driven by a Mandurah man and woman 100m north of the Jackson Road intersection about 3.40pm.

The Mt Barker man died at the scene from his injuries, while the occupants of the X-trail, a man and a woman from Dudley Park in Mandurah, were in a critical but stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital after being airlifted by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

The force of the impact crushed the front driver’s side of the Magna being driven by the Mt Barker man, who was the sole occupant on his way home from work in Albany, while debris from the collision was strewn into the culvert.

Mt Barker police, St John Ambulance, and Department of Fire and Emergency Services personnel attended the scene.

The latest death takes the road toll in the Great Southern to its worst in 11 years.

Great Southern police district traffic enforcement Sergeant Andrew Norton said police were investigating why the Magna was on the incorrect side of the road and were appealing for witnesses into the fatal crash.

“It’s sad for Mt Barker, three of their residents have been killed in a week,” he said.

“Unfortunately we have got an embarrassingly large road toll.

“It’s a sad indictment on the Great Southern. “It’s a community problem, not a policing problem.

“We are only one part of road safety, and that’s enforcement.”

Sgt Norton pleaded with all road users that they needed to take responsibility ahead of the festive season.

“Do the right thing, pull your heads in or we will knock you off,” he said.

“I have some extra man hours to spend and some would have already noticed an increased presence from police on the roads.”

Great Southern traffic police are appealing for witnesses who saw either vehicles before the crash.

Anyone with information regarding this crash, or who saw either of the vehicles involved before the crash, is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report it online at www.crimestopp erswa.com.au.