Two people have escaped serious injury at a two-car crash in Goulburn.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The collision at the Finlay Road/Hume Street intersection is just one of many that deputy mayor Steve Ruddell says highlights the need for traffic treatment.
Emergency services were called to the crash at about 9.15am Tuesday, April 16. A man driving a southbound RAV4 on Hume Street was turning right into Finlay Road when he collided with an ACT registered VW Multivan, headed north on Hume Street.
The RAV4 landed on its passenger side on the corner of Finlay Road, outside a car yard.
The male drivers of both cars were assessed by paramedics at the scene but were not transported to hospital, an Ambulance media spokeswoman said.
The van was driven by an ACT man who had travelled to Goulburn for business. His vehicle sustained significant front-end damage. He told The Post that his vehicle was possibly "a write-off."
The RAV4 also sustained passenger and driver side damage.
Police and Goulburn's NSW Fire and Rescue unit attended, the latter to clean-up a minor transmission spill.
Both vehicles were towed. One southbound lane was closed while emergency services were on scene.
In July, 2023, the state government announced $527,977 for a roundabout at the intersection. A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said this would allow for planning in year one with construction to follow in year two.
Cr Ruddell, a driving instructor, said the intersection had a high crash rate.
"The planning stage is well and truly underway and in my eyes, the sooner it happens, the better," he said.
"There are possibly more crashes there than are registered because people aren't injured."
The Post has reported on several crashes at the intersection. In June, 2023 a woman driving north on Hume Street went to turn right into Finlay Road when the sun blinded her, police said. Her vehicle crashed into a southbound car. The woman sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital.
In May, 2016 a 63-year-old Goulburn woman suffered a suspected fractured sternum in almost identical circumstances. She was also turning right into Finlay Road but failed to give way to a Toyota travelling south on Hume Street, police said.
The vehicles collided almost head-on. The woman's car rolled and she was trapped inside by her seat belt.
She was taken to Canberra Hospital. The other driver sustained minor injuries.
Cr Ruddell said while authorities favoured a roundabout for the intersection, he believed traffic lights were a "cheaper and better option."
He said the former cost up to $600,000 while traffic lights were about $150,000.
Transport for NSW will ultimately decide the matter. However Goulburn Mulwaree Council is having input.
Roundabouts are also planned for the Clinton/Sloane Street and Clinton/Cowper Street intersections in the longer term.
Elsewhere, he deputy mayor said he personally believed all of Goulburn's CBD should be reduced to 40km/h.
"This was in the original planning but in the end it was only applied to Auburn Street," he said.
"Bourke Street, for one, is very busy with the Hume Conservatorium, medical services to which older people cross the street, the Civic Centre and library. People just won't slow down."