Juhas, Jeffrey; Donaldson, Virginia; Juhas, Jerome and McGill, Stephen
Deceased
Jeffrey Juhas, Virginia Donaldson, Jerome Juhas, Steven McGill
Date of death
2007-06-08
Finding date
2009-10-28
Cause of death
multiple injuries and trauma due to motor vehicle accident
AI-generated summary
Four people died in a head-on motor vehicle collision on the Kennedy Highway near Mount Garnet, Queensland on 8 June 2007: Jeffrey Juhas (27), Virginia Donaldson (21), Jerome Juhas (1 year 9 months), and Steven McGill (41). The Ford Corsair driven by Juhas collided with an oncoming Toyota Hilux. The coroner found Juhas failed to adequately move to the left when the Toyota approached. The Toyota driver took reasonable evasive action but the vehicle's defective trailer brakes may have contributed to loss of control. Juhas had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.049-0.052% (at the legal limit) and was disqualified from driving. The narrow single-lane bitumen road (3.5m wide) required vehicles to pull onto dirt shoulders with different friction values, contributing to handling difficulty. The road has since been upgraded to dual carriageway. The coroner made no safety recommendations as road improvements have been completed.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Ford Corsair driver failed to move to left or move over adequately
- narrow single-lane bitumen road requiring vehicles to pull onto dirt shoulders
- different friction values between bitumen and dirt surface affecting vehicle handling
- defective braking system on trailer being towed by Toyota
- Ford Corsair driver at or near legal blood alcohol limit
- undulating road terrain with restricted line of sight
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