A coroner has found fatigue, alcohol and medication combined to impair a man’s driving before his ute rolled on a remote road in Tasmania’s north-east.
Russel David Morrison, 59, died when his 2004 Ford XR8 ute left Tomahawk Road and rolled about 73 metres in the early hours of March 11, 2024.
Morrison was a log truck contractor who moved to Tomahawk from Victoria in 2022. He had driven about 350 kilometres in the 24 hours leading up to the crash.
He left a friend’s home in Newnham, Launceston, at 1:10am to make the drive home. A passing motorist found the wrecked ute about 4:45am.
In recently published findings, Coroner Leigh Mackey found Morrison was fatigued and had consumed about 13.5 standard drinks.
Post-mortem testing also detected diazepam and doxylamine, which can cause drowsiness when combined with alcohol. Mackey found Morrison was also likely speeding.
A crash investigator found the ute had drifted onto gravel on the wrong side of the road, consistent with a lapse in concentration or a microsleep.
Morrison then over-corrected, crossed the road and rolled. He was thrown from the ute despite wearing a seatbelt.
The coroner also noted Morrison had suffered blackouts and a brain bleed following a fall in the weeks before his death.
Mackey found the crash was not deliberate. She also found worn tyres and a seized brake part on the ute did not contribute.
No formal recommendations were made, but Mackey noted the ute did not have electronic stability control, which has been mandatory on new passenger vehicles since 2013.
She said the system “may have decreased the severity of the accident or could possibly have prevented it”.
“Owners of these vehicles should be reminded that they lack the important safety features of this system,” Mackey said.
