SPEEDING is the biggest killer on Hawkesbury roads, with fatigue coming in second, according to a report obtained by the Gazette from the Centre for Road Safety.
A mother's grief at death of her son in car accident.
The report shows crash data from 2009 to May 20, 2015 and reveals an average of 477 crashes per annum in the Hawkesbury.
Since 2009, there have been 40 fatal crashes resulting in 44 deaths on Hawkesbury roads with three deaths this year so far — two less than the whole of 2014.
Speeding accounted for 40 per cent of deaths and since 2011, there have been more fatigue-related fatalities than alcohol.
The most serious year for the region was 2010 with nine fatal crashes resulting in 12 people killed.
From the period of 2009 to 2013, there were 2384 recorded crashes in the Hawkesbury with 1245 passengers and drivers injured as a result.
General manager for the Centre for Road Safety Marg Prendergast said just under half of all fatal crashes involve wet road surface conditions.
‘‘We really need motorists to slow down and drive and ride to the conditions,’’ Ms Prendergast said.
She also said people needed to start taking fatigue seriously with research indicating that being awake for 17 hours is similar to driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.05.
Hawkesbury highway patrol officer Sergeant John Breaden concurred.
‘‘In recent years we have been travelling well in relation to the number of deaths on our roads, but one is still too many,’’ Sgt Breaden said.
‘‘My staff are working hard to keep the number of people killed on our roads as low as possible. It is our goal that no-one else is killed on Hawkesbury roads this year.’’
The report highlights that motorcyclists account for 30 per cent of all fatalities in the Hawkesbury.
Sergeant Breaden said motorcyclists are welcome to pursue their passion in the Hawkesbury but need to be mindful that there are better places to learn to ride.
‘‘Both Bells Line of Road and the Putty Road are very popular with motorcyclists and generally this is not an issue but these roads are not places for learner riders. Parts of Bells Line of Road have little to no room to pull off the side of the road if a motorcyclist needs to stop.’’
