Emergency

Three killed on WA roads in 48 hours

Three people died in separate crashes on WA roads over the weekend.

Two of the three incidents were on country roads, which have accounted for 52 of the 69 WA road deaths this year.

WA MLC Martin Aldridge said cultural issues were to blame.

“Some of the issues in the Wheatbelt, like acceptance of drink driving, and cultural entrenchment, all of which are significant contributors to the road death toll,” he said.

One of the incidents took place at Gnowangerup, 345km south-east of Perth, on Sunday night.

A 45-year-old Gnowangerup man died when his Holden Commodore crashed into a house about 10.30pm.

Police found the driver trapped in his car and he later died at the scene. No one inside the residence was injured.

The second incident involved a 70-year-old man from Mukinbudin, who died after his vehicle veered off the Nungarin-Wyalkathchem Road and hit a tree 7km west of Trayning on Saturday afternoon.

WA Police Constable Luke Nurse said the accident was a tragedy.

“The vehicle he was driving has veered off the road and collided with a tree, which has resulted in being fatal,” he said.

In the third accident, a 53-year-old female motorcycle rider was killed after a head-on collision with a car in Serpentine on Sunday night.

The driver of a Holden Malibu was taken to hospital with a serious arm injury.

Three other passengers, including a child and a baby, were unharmed.

A 31-year-old has also been charged with driving without a licence after a car crash outside of York on Sunday morning.

Constable Aaron Biggs said the man was driving from Quairading to York when he lost control of the vehicle.

The driver suffered minor injuries and did not seek medical attention.

And a 39-year-old man has been charged with driving without a licence following a collision in Wattle Grove on Saturday.

The driver failed to stop for police before crashing into another vehicle.

Mr Aldridge said he hoped to see resources from the road trauma trust account allocated differently in future.

“Having this number of people die each year on our roads comes at a significant cost to our community,” he said.

“It’s time we get serious about this issue.”