A Trangie man travelling home from a work function at Dubbo in the early hours of Sunday has died after the utility he was a passenger in hit a tree at Narromine.
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Emergency Services were called to the scene just after 5.50am on Sunday.
A 19-year-old male and his 29-year-old passenger were travelling west along the Mitchell Highway, eight kilometres west of Sixth Avenue, when the Toyota Hilux veered off the road and struck a tree.
The passenger died at the scene while the driver of the vehicle was taken to Narromine Hospital for mandatory blood and urine tests, then to Dubbo Base Hospital for further medical assessment.
Orana Local Area Command duty officer Dan Skelly said detectives investigating the accident had determined fatigue was the likely cause of the accident.
“This was just a case of two young blokes who had been on a night out in Dubbo heading home. They had done the right thing, the passenger was attending a work function and the driver was a designated driver,” Inspector Skelly said.
“The community as a whole at Trangie will feel this. He leaves behind a wife and two kids and it’s just another tragic story.
“It’s also hard on the emergency service workers who had to attend the scene and cut the young man’s body out of the vehicle.”
The Mitchell Highway between Narromine and Nevertire has been a treacherous piece of road, with fatigue found to be the cause of a number of fatal accidents.
Inspector Skelly said this incident occurred not far from where three Orange men were killed in 2016 when their car hit a tree while returning from a hunting trip, in yet another example of the dangers of driving while tired.
And in July, 17-year-old Dubbo boy Jake Fardell was killed in another fatigue-related collision with a tree at Trangie.
“Unfortunately we are seeing a lot of fatigue-related accidents on our roads,” Inspector Skelly said.
“We ask that people please be aware of the dangers of driving while tired. It’s not just speed that kills on our roads.
“Everybody wants to get from A to B but it’s important to take regular rest breaks because it’s just not worth it to keep driving.”
Police from Orana Local Area Command will continue conducting inquiries into the incident.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
