Elderly driver charged over fatal crash on the Hume Highway at Bookham

AN elderly driver has been charged over a NSW truck crash in southern NSW in which a young woman died and more than 20 cattle were killed or had to be destroyed.

The truck was heading south on the Hume Highway at Bookham, near Yass, about 2.20pm (AEST) yesterday when it swerved off the road, crashed down an embankment and flipped onto its side.

The truck driver was freed by passers-by and suffered only minor injuries, but a passenger, his 24-year-old girlfriend, died at the scene, police said.

They say it took almost six hours to free her body from the badly damaged truck.

“Twenty-three cattle were either killed in the incident or had to be put down by vets due to the seriousness of their injuries,” police said.

Police said investigations revealed the truck was forced to swerve after a small sedan turned in front of it where a smaller road intersects the highway.

This afternoon a 74-year-old man attended Yass police station and after questioning was charged with dangerous driving causing death.

His driving licence was suspended and he has been granted bail to face Yass Local Court on July 6.

There was one other fatality on NSW roads on Sunday – a 22-year-old man was struck by a truck and killed as he walked in the northbound lane of the Pacific Highway at Corindi about 6pm (AEST).

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply