A grieving man who saw one friend killed and another seriously injured when they were hit by an allegedly intoxicated driver while motorcycling near Brisbane has decried road safety as becoming “markedly worse”.
Neil Mendham has issued an impassioned call for safer road use after the death of Darren* – a tourist from the UK – in Burpengary, in the Moreton Bay region, on Sunday, May 21.
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Mendham, Darren and another friend had been riding in the picturesque Sunshine Coast hinterland before making their way back towards Brisbane via Old Gympie Rd.
About 5.20pm, they were struck by a 31-year-old Eumundi man in a sedan who police have accused of driving under the influence and while his licence was suspended.
They have also charged him with possessing magic mushrooms (psilocybin) and a glass pipe.
Darren, 57, died at the scene, while the other motorcyclist, 60, was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition. Mendham says he faces months – if not years – of recovery.
An avid rider, Mendham revealed it was his decision to take the fateful path.
“The reason we were on that road was because I was leading the ride, I specifically chose not to go on the freeway (Bruce Highway) because Sunday nights on the freeway are an absolute danger zone,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
Mendham believes motorcyclists are increasingly unsafe on Queensland roads.
Statistics, showing an almost 40 per cent increase in the number of motorcycle or moped rider facilities between 2018 and 2023, support his concerns.
He noted that as recently as Sunday, a 24-year-old man was killed when his motorcycle was struck by a Subaru Forester on the Gore Highway near Toowoomba.
“What you’ve got is a combination of really bad things, and that’s why you’ve got these accidents,” Mendham said.
“As a daily user of roads around this area, both in a car and on a motorcycle, I can say that things have gotten markedly worse.”
He claims to have observed a large number of drivers “holding their phones, not paying attention, driving poorly”, while there is a lack of education for learning drivers on how to share roads with motorcyclists.
“One aspect is preparing younger drivers for the roads in southeast Queensland,” he said.
“There is no part of the (driving) test that asks questions about, how do you handle yourself on the freeway, how does a car move safely along the freeway when the speed is much higher.”
He also claims there is too much focus on revenue-raising in road safety campaigns, rather than increasing police presence.
“To my mind, there is a skew towards revenue-generating activity,” he said.
Crucial question
“I would like to see a change away from how much money we can make from people, toward how can we actively provide a police presence.”
He has also been grappling with the question: “What makes a person think they can get in a car while they’re allegedly under the influence and suspended, (thinking), ‘well I don’t care, that doesn’t count for me’.
“People don’t just say, ‘I’m above the law’. They make a choice based on what they understand the likelihood they’ll get stopped is,” he said.
“If the likelihood is low, they’ll do it.”
Darren’s surname has been omitted from this report to protect the identity of his family. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support them.