In short:
A coronial inquest into the deaths of Joanne Shanahan and Tania McNeill will examine whether police could have intervened earlier.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Martin Kirby, said several motorists had reported Harrison Kitt’s car driving “erratically”.
What’s next?
The inquest is continuing.
An inquest into the deaths of two women who were killed by a speeding driver at a busy Adelaide intersection will investigate whether police had prior opportunity to intervene.
Harrison Kitt was experiencing his first psychotic episode and speeding at 167 kilometres per hour just before 1pm on April 25, 2020, when he ran a red light on the wrong side of the road and caused the crash at the intersection of Cross and Fullarton roads at Urrbrae.
Police officer Joanne Shanahan and mother Tania McNeill died at the scene.
Opening an inquest into the death of the two women, counsel assisting the coroner, Martin Kirby, said several motorists had reported Mr Kitt’s silver Amarok ute driving “erratically” between Encounter Bay and Adelaide, but no-one had been able to provide the car’s registration number.
Mr Kirby said Mr Kitt was first detected by a Safe-T-Cam on the Southern Expressway about 12:41pm speeding at 187kph in a 100kph zone but the information was not provided in real time to police.
“A clear photograph was taken by that camera, showing the vehicle, the driver and the registration number,” he said.
“Because of the technology used and the manner in which those fixed cameras operate, this information was not passed on to SA Police or any other authority.
“These cameras don’t work in real time.
“The unfortunate flow on from this limitation was that when later reports came of a speeding driver travelling dangerously on the Southern Expressway, the vehicle couldn’t be identified.
“Had the registration number been known, it’s possible that SA Police might have had more options as to their response.”
Communication between agencies has improved since crash, inquest hears
He said the inquest would focus on the “fairly narrow” issue of technology and resourcing and whether a similar event could be prevented in the future.
“The aim of this inquest is to explore what other resources, if any, could have been used to locate and identify this vehicle prior to the collision. It will also explore if matters could be improved in the future.”
He said at the time time, police “did the best with what they could, with what they had”.
Mr Kirby said it was not in dispute that Mr Kitt was suffering an undiagnosed mental health condition at the time and was experiencing his first manic episode.
In August 2021, Mr Kitt was found not guilty of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving due to mental incompetence.
District Court Judge Paul Muscat set a limiting term of 10 years, during which Mr Kitt remains under mental health supervision. He was also banned from driving for 10 years.
Traffic Management Centre manager, Michael Southern, told the inquest in April 2020 they did not have the resources to immediately identify Mr Kitt’s car travelling at high speed along the Southern Expressway despite police being notified of the car on multiple occasions.
“What’s changed since then is the interactions we’re having with the comms team (in the police),” he said.
Mr Southern said without information from police he would “not expect” operators in the centre to identify the speeding vehicle.
Mr Southern said newly founded systems allow police to contact the centre within one minute of being alerted to someone travelling at high speed.
“Mostly, it’s relationship building with our counterparts at SAPOL,” he said.
“We now probably have the best relationship with our police agency than in any other state.”
‘This is all worthwhile’
Mr Southern said the centre was not alerted to the April 2020 incident until after the crash, something which he said would be unlikely today.
Mr Southern also said when alerted to a vehicle travelling at high speed, there is now a 40 per cent chance of them being able to identify the number plate after receiving information from police who could then intervene.
As the inquest began, State Coroner David Whittle, offered his condolences to Mrs Shanahan’s husband, Peter, who was sat in the body of the court.
“I would like to start, even now three years, four years after that event by acknowledging these two women and their families,” he said.
“I extend my condolences to you all.”
Outside court, Mr Shanahan said anything that could be done to improve road safety should be done.
“If we can do something better and we can save one more life, one life, then this is all worthwhile,” he said.
“Let’s just hope … these sorts of inquests can improve road safety and public safety in general.
“Hopefully there can be some recommendations or something that comes out of it that’s very positive for us.”
He also urged anyone to help if they notice someone suffering from mental health issues.
“We need to help people as much as we can to deal with issues that they may have and maybe prevent, or certainly prevent something like this from happening again.”
The inquest is continuing.