A young P-plate driver involved in a fatal crash on the Midland Highway two years ago unintentionally drove onto the wrong side of the road just before the incident, a coroner has concluded.
Jacob Allan Donohue and Will Cecil Oliver, both 19, tragically lost their lives in the head-on collision with a truck just north of Oatlands in October 2022.
In her investigation into the boys’ deaths, Coroner Oliver McTaggart revealed that Donohue had spent the afternoon driving from Launceston to Hobart to pick up Oliver from Hobart Airport after his flight from Western Australia.
McTaggart said that as Donohue approached St Peters Pass on the return journey in the early hours of the following wet and dark Friday morning, he “unintentionally manoeuvred” his car into the oncoming lanes of traffic while navigating through roadworks and “began to drive north in the southbound lanes”.
“Most unfortunately, Mr Donohue drove across the audible centrelines just before the commencement of the stretch of brifen fencing, failing to observe the road signs which cautioned him against doing so,” McTaggart said.
“There is no evidence to suggest that this action was deliberate. He may have been distracted or did not pay careful attention to the signs.”
McTaggart said despite the truck driver’s attempts to avoid the collision, having spotted “a set of lights” in his lane and trying to move out of the way, the two vehicles collided head-on.
Donohue died at the scene and Oliver, having suffered a “catastrophic brain injury that was not compatible with life”, passed away in the Royal Hobart Hospital the following day.
“The poor weather and darkness were likely contributors to Mr Donohue’s driving error,” McTaggart said.
“It is possible that the roadworks and changed markings prior to the crash, including at the point of commencement of the brifen fencing, may have distracted him or caused him some confusion.”
An independent audit deemed the road layout and signage, including orange reflective bollards and cones, speed reduction signs and lane deviation indicators, adequate.
The only recommended improvement was the addition of arrows on the highway to indicate the direction of travel at the end of the roadworks to the existing road.
The coroner said both Donohue and Oliver were wearing their seat belts and neither had consumed alcohol in the lead up to the crash.
