Teenager Killed In Coast Road Crash

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday July 31, 2004

By DAVID CRAWSHAW and CHANTAL RUMBLE

TRAGEDY struck again on the Princes Hwy yesterday when an 18-year-old man died in a head-on crash on a notorious section of the road south of Nowra.

The teenager was killed when the Subaru wagon in which he was travelling collided head-on with a tow truck, police spokesman Sergeant John Klepczarek said.

He was the 26th person killed on the Princes Hwy in the 10 months since the Southern Group of Councils formed a dedicated highway task force.

The horrific toll has prompted months of political squabbling and a community campaign for an immediate upgrade.

More than 10,000 residents and visitors to the South Coast have added their names to a Mercury petition calling on the NSW Government for an urgent upgrade of the road.

Shoalhaven City Mayor Greg Watson yesterday said urgent action was needed.

"We desperately need an injection of funding into the Princes Hwy and I don't care where it comes from - whether it's Commonwealth or whether it's state - so long as somebody does it," he said.

The section of road where yesterday's crash occurred, between South Nowra and the Jervis Bay turn-off, has been earmarked for an upgrade.

Last month the Federal Government committed $20 million of black-spot funding to convert the section of highway to dual carriageway.

Yesterday's crash was the third fatality on the stretch in the past five years. The accident, which happened at 7.35am just north of the BTU Rd intersection, blocked the highway in both directions for five hours.

Northbound traffic was diverted along BTU Rd and southbound traffic on to Central Ave as crash investigators and emergency workers searched the scene for clues.

The teenager, whose name has not been released, suffered massive injuries and died at the scene, police said. The truck driver was taken to Shoalhaven Hospital suffering shock and minor injuries.

The highway reopened at 12.30pm.