A coroner has said that he still finds it “quite extraordinary” that some Tasmanians “continue to die needlessly” by not wearing seatbelts.
In his recently published findings on a crash that resulted in the death of a King Island driver, Coroner Simon Cooper said many serious injuries are prevented by ‘simply wearing a seatbelt’.
The coroner said the April 2022 crash saw 75-year-old Graham Rex Conley pass away in the King Island Hospital shortly after colliding with a power pole in his Suzuki Jimny.
Conley was found without a seatbelt and no alcohol or drugs were in his system, but the coroner suggested that his heart condition may have been a “precipitating factor in the vehicle leaving the road”.
“If he had been wearing a seatbelt it is more than likely he would have survived the injuries he sustained in the crash,” Coroner Cooper said.
“I comment that the wearing of seat belts has been compulsory in Tasmania for over 50 years.”
“Nonetheless, and quite extraordinarily, people in this state continue to die needlessly from injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes which would have been prevented, or at least lessened, by the wearing of a seatbelt.”
“I convey my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr Conley.”
