A MAN died in a crash between a car and a truck on Birralee Road in the state’s North on Thursday.
The man was the driver of the sedan.
It is understood the driver of the log truck was not injured.
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• John Hawkins in Comments: The Highway of Death: The Frankford Highway is littered with the crash sites of dead people. Some are remembered by crosses or flowers on the side of the road, all killed by these enormous Log Trucks as they head for the Batman Bridge at 110 kms plus an hour on a small narrow road that twists and turns from Westbury to Exeter. Heavy Log Trucks should be banned on this stretch for it has become the Tasmanian shortcut to the Pearly Gates. How many Tasmanians have Log Trucks killed or injured on this so-called Highway this year? I believe the number to be at least 5 with a month to go.
• Pete Godfrey in Comments: #5 Barry no one is saying it is the fault of the truck driver. The problem is that the road matters. Birallee road is a narrow, winding road with lots of crests and gullies. Sight lines are often obscured by trees and rises. So if a person who is driving onto the road or entering from a side road is not very very careful it is easy to get into trouble when another vehicle is doing 100 klm along the road. Of course if it is a car they may be able to swerve or brake to avoid an accident but when it is a fully loaded truck (especially a B double) they have trouble stopping and definitely cannot swerve. There are far too many people who drive cars in Tasmania who are lazy and cut corners, where I live it is a constant danger on the Lake Highway. I always drive way over on the left on blind corners, too many times I have come face to face with a (mainly 4wd) vehicle straddling the centre lines. I think that some roads need much lower speed limits for large vehicles, that way people who may not be taking enough care or who cannot see what is coming may have more chance. The difference between driving at 100 klm and 80klm is not very much in time on a trip. Even on a dead straight highway a 100 kilometre journey will only be 15 minutes longer. On a windy road much the difference will be much less.
• Artemesia in Comments: Linda (10) You have the wrong end of the stick here … the point is that these vehicular behemoths are being driven at a very fast pace on very inappropriate roads. Anyone who has ever used the Birralee Road will know that it should never have been approved to carry the kind of heavy transport vehicles that it does. Meet one of those on one the tight corners on that road and you have literally nowhere to go. It’s not really the truck drivers at fault – they simply can’t negotiate such a big vehicle on a road like that without encroaching onto the other lane. “Cowboy drivers” are to be found behind any wheel.
