Father and son die in car accident

A father and son died in a head-on crash on the Summerland Way, north of Grafton Sunday night.

FRANK REDWARD

A FATHER and son have died in a tragic high speed, head-on collision on the Summerland Way and another man has been left seriously injured.

The Holden Commodore and a Toyota station wagon collided 40 kilometres north of Grafton Sunday night, killing two Clarence Valley men.

The 23-year-old driver of the Commodore died at the scene while his father, 48, died after being airlifted to Lismore Base Hospital.

The driver of the Toyota, a 35-year-old Lismore man, was airlifted to Lismore Base Hospital with significant injuries.

He is believed to be in a serious but stable condition.

Sergeant Dallas Leven said the latest fatality was another case of local people dying on local roads.

“Tragically it appears the trend of last year has continued this year with local people dying on our local roads,” he said.

The cause of the high speed accident is yet to be determined and Ballina’s Crash investigators are currently looking into the cause of the accident and are following numerous lines of inquiries.

Helicopter chief pilot Lynton Beggs said it had been a difficult operation with the helicopter having to land about 700 metres from the crash site.

“It was very dark, no moon, you couldn’t see the horizon,” he said.

The road was closed all night and not reopened until yesterday morning.

The NSW official road death toll for 2010 now stands at 17, eight more than at the same time last year.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact them via Crime Stoppers on 1800. 333. 000.