When a fatal crash and truck explosion closed the Bruce Highway two weeks ago, it put the state of the road firmly in the spotlight. The Bruce is the backbone of regional Queensland, as a transport corridor and major arterial for tourists travelling the coast. But anyone who's travelled the highway would know sections are simply dangerous and those who've lost loved ones in fatal crashes want fixing the highway on the state election agenda.
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00:00It's the gateway to regional Queensland, stretching 1,700km from Brisbane to Cairns.
00:10But many say the Bruce Highway is a death trap.
00:13It's a lethal road.
00:16Motorists are between three and five times more likely to die on the Bruce than other
00:21national highways.
00:23Betty Stewart's husband, Daniel, was one of them.
00:27The truck driver was killed in a triple fatal at Meribah earlier this year.
00:32She's dreading her first Christmas without him.
00:35It was the thing that he loved the most, was giving all of us presents and Secret Santas
00:43and watching the kids get their presents.
00:47He's not going to be there for that.
00:52Last month, another fatal crash and truck explosion at Beroran, south of Gladstone,
00:57cut the highway for five days.
01:00It's put the dire state of the Bruce back firmly in the spotlight.
01:05The swathes of the road are basically high speed, single undivided lanes where the road
01:14is just unforgiving to motorists who make mistakes.
01:18Childers to Gingin, Serena to Prosserpine and Townsville to Cairns are considered the
01:23deadliest stretches, riddled with potholes, damaged bitumen and narrow bridge crossings.
01:31I'm here at Gingin, the worst stretch of the highway for serious and fatal crashes.
01:37It's clear motorists are fed up with the conditions and are calling for major upgrades to be made
01:43a priority.
01:46Bundaberg based truck driver, Trudy Trussell, is one of them.
01:51The quality of the road for the amount of traffic is substandard compared to the rest
01:57of the highways in Australia that I've been on.
02:01It's quite a disgrace.
02:04One hundred and forty nine people died between 2018 and 2022.
02:10More than half of those deaths were caused by head on collisions.
02:14There's a link there between the quality of the road, the safety of that road and the
02:18crashes that occur on that road.
02:20Colin Dwyer is on a mission to fix the brutes.
02:24The Economist recently teamed up with retired Dr Tracey Cheffins to travel the highway documenting
02:31black spots.
02:32We would like to see a prioritisation of those areas.
02:38It's a mission Betty Stewart is firmly behind as she tries to contemplate life without her
02:44beloved husband.
02:46The road's dangerous in certain areas.
02:48There's a lot of people that have been killed on that road.
02:51You know, if they don't get addressed, more people are going to die.