Photo: Robert Chappel 300512RCC05
A YOUNG man who died in a crash in West Tamworth yesterday afternoon was pulled over by police less than half an hour before the collision.
The man was the driver of a red Honda Civic that crashed into a Ford one-tonne utility on Werris Creek Road just after 3pm.
He is also believed to have been involved in a minor smash at the Kent Street intersection just seconds before that fatal crash, but took off in a panic.
Police last night were attempting to piece together the tragic sequence of events that led up to the fatal accident.
As far as evidence pointed last night, police believe the Honda had been travelling east along Werris Creek Road towards the city centre, and the utility, bearing the trademark of a Tamworth airconditioning company, had been travelling in the opposite direction.
The crash site was about 100 metres on the town side of the overpass roundabout that leads to Gunnedah Road.
The 22-year-old driver of the Honda Civic died at the scene despite paramedics’ attempts to revive him.
The driver of the trades ute, believed to be in his 30s, was not injured.
Among the calls made to emergency services about the crash were those from golfers only metres away on the fairways of the golf course.
Police established a crime scene and busy afternoon traffic, which was banked up on Bridge Street and Werris Creek Road, was diverted through Kent Street and Mahoney Avenue.
Crash investigators spent last night mapping out the accident scene and piecing together how the Honda Civic ended up on the wrong side of the road.
Investigators from the New England Local Area Command were sent to Tamworth last night after a critical incident investigation was established into the circumstances leading up to the crash.
Police said they had been called to a home in Barton Lane about 2.30pm and had spoken with a woman, before relaying a message to a nearby patrol car to pull over the Honda Civic, which was travelling on Macquarie Street.
The driver was breath-tested.
He provided a negative result and drove off – but emergency services were called to the crash site on the other side of town less than half hour later.
A NSW Police Force spokeswoman said the critical incident investigation was formed because the man had been pulled over by police prior to the crash.
“It was still a considerable amount of time between the breath-test and the crash but because he had police intervention beforehand, the critical incident investigation is just to investigate those circumstances,” she said.
Police yesterday asked for anyone who saw the car in the moments before the accident or witnessed the crash to call investigators via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.