Man killed in car accident on Barry Drive

A family got killed a couple of years ago up the North Coast hwy because an elderly driver had a heart attack and ended up on the wrong side of the road – unfortunate for all concerned.

Well obviously, the Police can’t comment cause it will go to coronial. But generally you can read between the lines of the Police message and work out what happened.
I agree with a few on here, What I got out of it was that no matter where your drivin and when, you gotta expect the unexpected. It came across as a basic reminder to check the cars around me and pay attention to the road rather than fiddling with the radio station.

I was disappointed with the Police officer doing the on-the spot PR. He went too far- mouthing the standard line by effectively attributing the accident to driver error. Didn’t he make the mental connection “elderly driver + single vehicle veers off road = high probability of stroke or coronary”.
Sure, all drivers need to be alert and drive carefully, but there are some things you can’t prepare for, like an unexpected coronary.

I was actually trying to be discreet. If you really must force out my sources, lets just say that a few minutes ago I spoke to a friend of the woman who crashed. ok?

Wow, given your earlier post, that’s a really sad and traumatic bit of info. 🙁

The probably just got bored with the site though.
noooooo, blasphemy.

I wish I’d get bored, there’s a few constructive things I should be doing : P

ooooh, conspiracy theories. I like : )

Me, naah…. Just a friendly warning re those who have gone before….

Maybe its got to do with mysterious antennas in rural canberra settings and alien abductions – who knows – just that cops have posted here before and then they abruptly stop – perhaps on advice of their peers – who knows…

Danman – you sound a bit freaked out. Are you the police? : )

For those that missed it, I believe the point of the police message is that even if you reckon you’re the world’s greatest driver, driving in the best possible conditions, you still need to stay alert for unexpected things (like the guy driving on the other side of the road having a heart attack).

I was actually trying to be discreet. If you really must force out my sources, lets just say that a few minutes ago I spoke to a friend of the woman who crashed. ok?

Howdy – how is this a first hand account?

Are you the police ?

If so I would tread lightly – there has been police under pseudonyms here before. They dissapear as mysteriously as they appear – even though they quite often began their posts with “This is my personal opinion. not professional opinion”.

In my industry your personal opinion is constantly scrutinised and if I say anything that may adversly effect my professional opinion – its still my opinion and I could be judged as unworthy for my occupation based on that…

Just a warning…..for your sake…..

First hand account : ( The man died of a heart attack whilst driving and his wife grabbed the wheel to drive them off the road and avoid hitting anyone else.

Best wishes to his wife, lovely woman.

Actually what was odd is that I’ve been to that page three times and that story has been edited three times. The first time mentioned a woman with kids driving behind them who tried to help but could do nothing. They cut that out for whatever reason, along with the ‘police quote’. The third time the quote is now back in.

I think this also suggests – Don’t trust everything you read : )

Maybe the ABC just grabbed the quote from another story, or it was just a general statement (by that officer) that the media use when there’s an accident. We would hope the Police are doing more for us then talking to the media all day no?

It’s not really an in depth story and it looks like the ABC were struggling to pad it out a bit.

It could’ve been a lot worse, it occured right near the bus-stop on Barry Drive that is very popular with ANU/surrounding residents.

I also saw the Police put their little spin on this crash. Its really pathetic. World Champion driver Denny Hulme suffered a heart attack on Mt Panorama while driving in the Bathurst 1000 and even a driver of his skill couldn’t keep the car on the track, what chance did this poor bloke have?

This appears to be nothing more than an unfortunate tragedy at an inappropriate time.

Condolences to the family and hopefully the injured part recovers.

Very sad….

The gentleman’s driving appeared to have nothing to do with this event.

As noted above, witnesses were describing what looked to be a medical emergency prior to the car leaving the road.

My annoyance is the Police then subtly attributing the result to poor driving.

My nature, number of eyes open and ability or otherwise to drive like Brock similarly have nothing to do with it.

A tragic accident, I hope the family get the support they will need.

It looks like the message Police were passing on is that driving is inherently dangerous and regardless of the time of day or the weather conditions the unexpected can and does occure.

Cranky, I’m not sure what’s annoying about this kind of message – something about your nature? If more P plate drivers took notice of the statistics as opposed to being annoyed like you then perhaps a few tragedies could be avoided? No doubt some of the hardliners that believe that they can drive like Peter Brock clamped up after his accident… does it take the death of a loved one or an Aussie icon to cause you to open both eyes?

What a rotten way to go, and for the lady also. A real shame.