By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
IT WAS the school holidays – but these children would never go back to school.
The tragedy of it enveloped Bob Halsall hours after the horrific crash.
The former Casey councillor was sitting in his car at the stop lights where Lynbrook Boulevard crosses over the South Gippsland Highway, when horror unfolded in front of his eyes at the Lynbrook intersection.
He was the first responder at the crash site, which claimed the lives of two boys, six and nine, after a truck ran a red light and hit their car in March 2008.
“I can still see it,” Bob said.
“You never really forget.”
Almost a decade later safety concerns are still being raised about the site, with Casey Council last week urging the community to participate in a recently activated VicRoads survey regarding the notorious intersection.
While VicRoads installed new warning signs at the site in 2013, the state’s road body and Casey Council are eager to install extra safety measures, with flashing lights suggested by Cr Wayne Smith last week.
For Bob, it’s a no-brainer – everything has to be done to mitigate the risks.
In the five years from 2010 to 2015 there have been seven crashes resulting in deaths at that same intersection.
A few hours after the 2008 crash, Bob was sitting at home when he learned that the boys hadn’t survived the incident.
It was then he knew his burden was nothing compared to that which the families involved would carry for the rest of their lives.
Bob, who has a young son himself, always thinks of the crash survivors and the families whose lives have been ruined by that intersection.
He said we have to learn from the past.
“That was two kids who will never have a future, who could have gone on to do all sorts of things we’ll never know about,” Bob said.
“Anything to mitigate the risks is worthwhile.”
Those members of the community who are familiar with this intersection are encouraged to complete the survey, which closes on 21 February, and which can be found at www.vicroads. vic.gov.au.
