A total of 97 people have been killed on Queensland roads this year, the same as this time last year. Acting Inspector Coyne said there was no advice that could be given to stop similar incidents from happening, other than for motorists to remain vigilant on the roads. “I don’t know what you can do to stop them; obviously it’s driver error,” she said. "There’s not a lot of time to react if you’ve got a car travelling at you at speed — you’ve got to try to negotiate some way of avoiding it — but it would have been on top of them before it was too late.” In the most recent incident, a hatchback being driven north on the Gateway Motorway in Rochedale was hit head-on by a ute driving on the wrong side of the road.

The collision happened at 4.20am and about a kilometre before the Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road exit. A 61-year-old man and 63-year-old woman who were travelling in the hatchback were taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with serious injuries. However, police announced at 11am that the Maroochydore man had since died in hospital. The woman he was with remained in hospital in a serious but stable condition. Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Loganholme man, the driver and sole occupant of the ute, was later released from hospital after suffering only minor injuries. Police closed the Gateway Motorway between Miles Platting Road and Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road, and it remained blocked for more than three hours until it was reopened just before 9am.

Acting Inspector Coyne said a dog squad officer was first on the scene and put out an urgent call for help on the radio that was answered by an off-duty traffic control officer. She added that debris was spread 70-80 metres across the Gateway Motorway and "it was a miracle that two people survived". About 28 hours earlier, a 32-year-old Chinese woman died when the station wagon in which she was a passenger was hit by a hatchback being driven on the wrong side of the M1 on the Gold Coast. The collision happened at about 12.45am on Saturday and police said the deceased was in the back seat when the crash took place.

Police said the female driver of the station wagon, who was known to the victim, and the man behind the wheel of the hatchback were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital with minor injuries. Several kilometres of southbound delays formed after emergency services blocked part of the motorway and it did not fully reopen until about 7am. The Forensic Crash Unit was investigating both incidents and appealing to anyone who may have relevant dashcam footage or who may have witnessed the crashes to contact police.