This morning at around 10am, officers attached to Campbelltown City Police Area Command were responding to an urgent incident under lights and sirens along Appin Road.
Dashcam vision depicts two police vehicles at least 50m behind a hatchback, on a long, flat, straight, stretch of road.
The driver of the hatchback, travelling in the same direction, has allegedly swerved onto the incorrect side of the road and collided with an oncoming truck.
The driver of the hatchback died at the scene and is yet to be formally identified.
The truck driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to Campbelltown Hospital for mandatory testing.
A crime scene was established and a Critical Incident Team from Cumberland Police Area Command will lead the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, assisted by the Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit.
The investigation will be reviewed by the Professional Standards Command and oversighted by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC).
At 3.30pm today, Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden, South West Metropolitan Region, announced details of the Critical Incident investigation while addressing the media outside Liverpool police station.
Police will also prepare a report for the information of the Coroner.
This road is a shocker… Both sides of government have ignored it for decades with small “patch up” fixes. We used to have a sign at the start of the “bad bit” at Rosemeadow that showed how many deaths have occurred along this stretch and it was constantly getting updated.. then someone complained it upset them so it was removed.. Bring back the sign and put your lights on and slow down !
I remember my grandfather telling me that in the 50s when they travelled down to Towradgi to see family, that the road was deadly then.
Now in the 21st century, the problem remains.
We’ve screamed for the road to be widened for decades. They’ve done it recently to meet the housing boom, yes. But this latest tragedy proves that short bursts of two lanes only here and there, is remarkably insufficient for an area which will continue to grow.
Which begs the question-why have a census at all?