There’s a wooden cross beside Jerrara Road at South Marulan.
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It was erected in honour of a seven-year-old who was killed in an accident on the road in 2012. His family had been travelling home to Sydney when the driver lost control of the vehicle and ran into a tree. Police believed at the time it was fatigue related.
Accidents happen for all manner of reasons. The latest one is equally tragic. A 23-year-old woman lost her life in a collision, apparently while visiting friends in the area. She had a young son and the rest of her life ahead.
We do not know the cause and do not preempt investigations in any way. But Jerrara Road has had more than its fair share of fatalities and crashes. In 2016, when The Post interviewed him, resident Ross Goddard kept a record of most of them. His notebook showed a fatal motorbike accident 8.3km from the Hume Highway junction in 2001, a woman killed when her car crashed into a tree in 2008 and the young boy’s death. Residents have also reported overturned trucks and crashed cars after colliding with wildlife and other vehicles.
It’s little wonder they successfully lobbied the council and RMS to drop the speed limit to 80km/h. They have also waged a long campaign for greater safety measures given that it is the main haul route for Multiquip Quarries at Bungonia over to the Hume Highway.
Many who don’t know the area speed along the road, or use it “as a racetrack,” in resident Peter Walton’s words. We do not attribute Saturday’s accident to speed. Mr Walton was speaking generally. It’s a view backed up by many others.
Multiquip Quarries is upgrading the road under its consent conditions, an exercise that is attracting both praise and criticism. Resident Mick Freestone knows the road’s dangers only too well. He told a recent Bungonia outreach meeting that his wife travelled the road daily back from Canberra and was constantly in fear of either a truck travelling too close behind her or a kangaroo jumping out in front. He’s asked for a turning lane into Tickner Valley Road where the couple live.
Every effort must be made to make this road safer. But sometimes the best efforts and even increased police patrols can’t prevent fatal accidents. People need to slow down on rural roads and drive to conditions.
Meantime, our hearts go out to the family of the young woman killed on Saturday.
