Residents of a South Australian Mid North town are questioning the safety of a road a livestock truck was travelling on when it overturned and crashed into a house, as motorists are warned to watch for stray cattle.
Key points:
- SA Police Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes says the driver lost control while navigating a bend
- Several cattle have been injured in the accident and were euthanased
- Burra residents are advised to keep an eye out for stray cattle
The incident occurred in Burra on Ludgvan Street, a bypass that runs through part of the town, just before 6:30am.
The 43-year-old Clare Valley truck driver was taken to the Burra Hospital with minor injuries, while some cattle were injured in the crash and needed to be euthanased.
Ludgvan Street is heavily used by freight and livestock transporters and features a tight corner.
SA Police Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes said the truck “lost control” on the bend.
“It impacted the front verandah of the house. Fortunately, there was no injury to anyone inside the house,” she said.
“The truck driver was encapsulated inside the cab of the truck … it was quite a job for emergency services to extricate [him].”
Property owner Kevin Evans said it was the third time the home had been hit by trucks on the corner, and the second time in the past decade it had been hit by a cattle truck.
“The road is the problem, we’ve complained about the road before, we went to the council, road traffic, no one wants to do anything about it,” Mr Evans said.
Call to move bypass
Mr Evans said while a yellow recommended speed sign had been placed on the corner, it was not mandatory for road users to slow down.
The Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) told the ABC it was not aware of any recent requests to lower the speed or install a guard rail.
Mr Evans called for the bypass to be moved out of town.
“Fortunately, no one has been seriously hurt, yet,” he said.
Regional Council of Goyder mayor and truck driver Bill Gebhardt said that particular corner of the bypass had a dangerous bend with a camber, and it was not the only concerning road in the district.
“There’s a couple of DIT roads which have got a bad camber and on which we’ve had truck rollovers on, so I think we need to have a discussion around these roads where we’ve got data that there have been accidents,” Cr Gebhardt said.
DIT said it would investigate the crash to see if any safety upgrades were required.
Accident like ‘bomb going off’
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions could not confirm if all the cattle had been located and captured, nor how many had to be euthanased.
Police advised the community to keep pets indoors and motorists to avoid the area, but report any livestock sightings to the police assistance line on 131 444.
“Some of the cattle sadly died in the impact … [the others] may be distressed and some may be walking wounded,” Ms Stokes said.
Neighbour Jodie O’Regan said she was woken by the incident on Monday morning and watched from her front door as a heavy vehicle tow truck pulled the cattle truck out.
“It was like a bomb going off,” she said.
Nearby residents were first on the scene and helped detour traffic while emergency services were en route.
“Someone came with a ute and brought sandwiches for the volunteers,” Ms O’Regan said.
SA Police have confirmed the road is now open to traffic after being closed for more than half a day.
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