Parkes, Michael George
Deceased
Michaelangelo George Parkes
Demographics
66y, male
Date of death
2016-07-31
Finding date
2018-11-12
Cause of death
chest injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision (motorcyclist)
AI-generated summary
A 66-year-old motorcyclist died from chest injuries after a motor vehicle collision during a police traffic interception operation. The incident involved a police officer signalling an oncoming driver to slow down to facilitate safe re-entry of an intercepted vehicle. The oncoming driver (Hyundai Santa Fe) misinterpreted a non-standardised hand signal as a direction to stop and braked suddenly. The motorcyclist applied emergency braking to avoid collision, lost control on the road crest, and collided with the stationary police vehicle. Key clinical lesson: the coroner found the death resulted from a combination of circumstances rather than any single preventable clinical error, though acknowledges that enhanced guidance on safe interception site selection regarding vehicle stopping distances could improve future police operations safety.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- decision to intercept vehicle at location with limited visibility over crest of hill
- misinterpretation of non-standardised police hand signal by driver of Hyundai Santa Fe
- sudden heavy braking by vehicle ahead creating unexpected hazard
- combination of circumstances creating rapidly changing road conditions
- limited distance for reaction and braking
- road camber causing motorcycle to leave bitumen surface
Coroner's recommendations
- Queensland Police Service to give consideration to inclusion in section 15.4.2 of the Operational Procedures Manual more specific guidance to officers regarding safe location of interception sites, including need to have regard to distances required for vehicles to stop safely when travelling at speed limit for relevant section of road
- Sunshine Coast Council Speed Management Committee to consider issues identified in findings with respect to segment of Old Gympie Road in vicinity of intersection with Clarkes Road at Mt Mellum, including capacity for vehicles travelling at 70km/h to avoid collisions with vehicles accessing road from adjacent driveways
Full text
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