Crash call to action

Another fatal crash at the notorious intersection of Eighty Road and Sixty Eight Road in Baldivis has prompted urgent calls to make it safer for motorists. A man believed to be in his 50s died when his motorbike and a car collided at the deadly intersection on Friday. The motorbike burst into flames. It is the second fatality at the same spot in two years after a 45-year-old woman who was visiting Australia on holidays died when the car she was in and a cement truck collided on July 7, 2018. Tributes to the woman can still be seen, pictured, more than a year later. Baldivis MLA Reece Whitby said while the latest incident was still under investigation, the intersection had “proven well and truly” that it was a crash black spot and “desperately” needed replacing. “Because it’s such a safety issue and because we’ve lost two lives there in less than two years we really need to see that brought forward. “If we leave it longer we’re going to see other deaths, I fear.” Mr Whitby said it was always the plan to have a roundabout to link Nairn Drive with Eighty Road. “But of course it was conditional on the developer building it and the developer had their own time frame,” he said. Mayor Barry Sammels said the City of Rockingham was keen to improve safety at all accident-prone locations, but insisted its hands were tied in this instance. He said the proposed extension of Nairn Drive, which would meet at the current intersection of Sixty Eight Road and Eighty Road and would include the installation of a new roundabout, had already been approved but would be carried out at the cost and discretion of developer Parkland Heights. “The timing of a development is a commercial decision taken by developers based on their assessment of potential lots sales,” Cr Sammels said. “(The City) does not have the direct ability to fast-track these works. Both Sixty Eight Road and Eighty Road are classified local distributor roads and are under the care and control of the City of Rockingham. A Main Roads spokeswoman said there had been a total of seven crashes at the intersection in the five years to December 31, 2019. Of these, one was fatal, two required medical attention and four involved major property damage of more than $3000. The full extent of the carnage at the spot won’t be known until this year’s crash data is available in April 2021. Cr Sammels said the size and shape of the road reservation did not allow the City to undertake “any meaningful physical changes to the road layout/geometry at this time”. He said the City recently implemented several improvements around the intersection including the installation of a rumble strip on Eighty Road, improvement of signs and line marking, vegetation removal and verge lowering to improve sight distance for motorists. Cr Sammels said any further improvements required would be determined as a result of investigations from WA Police and Main Roads WA regarding the incident on Friday. Anyone with information relating to the crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report it tocrimestopperswa.com.au. Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and Parkland Heights were approached for comment.