Saturday, 12 March 2022 04:03:47 PM
A man has been charged following a fatal four-vehicle crash near Cooma yesterday.
About 8.40am (Friday 11 March 2022), emergency services were called to the intersection of the Snowy Mountains Highway and Kosciuszko Road, Pine Valley, about 5km west of Cooma, following reports of a crash involving a Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-MAX, Toyota Rav 4 and a light rigid truck. The driver of the Rav 4 – a 53-year-old man – died at the scene. The male driver of the Hilux – a 19-year-old man – was taken to Cooma Hospital in a stable condition, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. He underwent mandatory testing. The drivers of the truck – a 41-year-old man – and the D-MAX – a 62-year-old man – were taken to Cooma Hospital with minor injuries.
Officers attached to Monaro Police District established a crime scene and specialist investigators from the Crash Investigation Unit commenced an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
About 10.30am today (Saturday 12 March 2022), the 19-year-old man was released from hospital and arrested.
The Victorian man was taken to Cooma Police Station where he was charged with cause bodily harm by misconduct-in charge of motor vehicle, negligent driving (occasioning death) and dangerous driving occasioning death-drive manner dangerous.
He was given conditional bail and will appear in Cooma Local Court on Wednesday 18 May 2022.
His driver’s licence was also suspended.
Witnesses or drivers with dashcam footage of the crash are urged to come forward and call Cooma Police on 6452 0099 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
