HELP badly needed from thie group!

[tempvisitor]

We would deeply appreciate any help that can be provided by this group. A young family member claims to have witnessed a gruesome accident on Tonkin Highway some time in the middle of last week (approx Tues 4 Jan - Thurs 6 Jan 2011). Apparently, a ute flipped over and a young driver was massively injured (this is NOT the accident in which a driver directed rescuers to his vehicle using a mobile phone - which occurred in the same period).

We have been utterly unable to find any news report of this accident, and police and ambulance services will not release such information to members of the public. Our problem is that the family member in question has a history of psychological difficulties, and it is possible that this traumatic incident did not actually occur. Obviously, it is important that we find out whether her report was real or not, as this will affect how we approach her problems.

We would be extremely grateful for any information that might shed some light on whether or not this accident occurred.

We would also be grateful for any clues to where we might look for records of such an event.

Jeff

[yorky]

Hi Jeff,

Are you able to ascertain if Fire services attended? Since all we can listen into is the Fire service, I would guess that either someone here may recall hearing the incident, otherwise another member may have had dealings with it and could help you.

Either way good luck in finding the info.

[Helitac668]

I couldnt find anything on the main roads website or twitter page, but maybe try getting in contact with them. Hopefully they may be able to give you some information

Best of Luck

[written_ficton]

To the best of my knowledge I did indeed hear something similar to a vehicle rollover on the Tonkin Highway last week. Perhaps it would be best directed to the local news groups?

I heard this on the radio [Believe it was 94.5 or 96FM] as I tend to surf the channels. Perhaps they still have copies of their traffic reports? Worth a try.

[westernwedgey]

Try the local towing companies and the one that has the contract with WAPOL, if there was a crash they would've attended.

[yorky]

ACCC should be the contracted Police tow people I believe.

[Helitac668]

I know that this probably isn't it, but i thought i might as well put it up just in case it helps

Heres a link to a page (SINGLETON SERIOUS CRASH) from the WA Police site:
http://www.police.wa.gov.au/LinkClick.a ... 9&mid=1983

[tempvisitor]

Thanks very much to all who responded to my plea for help.

In the end, I contacted the police Crash Section for my area and explained the reasons for my need for information. They were very helpful, and were able to confirm that the accident in question had in fact occurred. This was a tremendous relief to us. It put our minds at rest in relation to the possibility of the recurrence of our family members earlier problems.

It's been an informative experience, though. I guess we all assume that the news media are telling us what is going on out there in the world. Wrong. The news media are only interested in "entertaining". The only criterion they apparently apply to determining what will be published is whether there is some space to fill. The accident in question was extremely serious and may well end up being fatal. Nonetheless, my family and I searched every likely newspaper and combed the internet and found absolutely NO MENTION AT ALL of the accident. It might just as well have never happened. (the only exception to this is the possible broadcast on an FM station that a member of this forum kindly drew my attention to - but I've not been able to get confirmation of this from the stations concerned).

I guess the Queensland floods have flooded out much local news...

Many thanks for your replies.

Jeff

[written_ficton]

Thanks very much to all who responded to my plea for help.

In the end, I contacted the police Crash Section for my area and explained the reasons for my need for information. They were very helpful, and were able to confirm that the accident in question had in fact occurred. This was a tremendous relief to us. It put our minds at rest in relation to the possibility of the recurrence of our family members earlier problems.

It's been an informative experience, though. I guess we all assume that the news media are telling us what is going on out there in the world. Wrong. The news media are only interested in "entertaining". The only criterion they apparently apply to determining what will be published is whether there is some space to fill. The accident in question was extremely serious and may well end up being fatal. Nonetheless, my family and I searched every likely newspaper and combed the internet and found absolutely NO MENTION AT ALL of the accident. It might just as well have never happened. (the only exception to this is the possible broadcast on an FM station that a member of this forum kindly drew my attention to - but I've not been able to get confirmation of this from the stations concerned).

I guess the Queensland floods have flooded out much local news...

Many thanks for your replies.

Jeff

No Problems Jeff, glad that the members of WARSUG could help out in this situation. I'm glad that the possible broadcast help from the FM radio station helped.

Most stations do the traffic sections before or after the news and is generally well informative on any serious problems.

Cheers,


WF

[Zebedee]

It's been an informative experience, though. I guess we all assume that the news media are telling us what is going on out there in the world. Wrong. The news media are only interested in "entertaining".

G'day Jeff,

Good to know that you got the information you were seeking, and it was the type of information that set your mind at rest

Regarding your comments about the news vs what's really happening - that's why a lot of us became scanner listeners in the first place I reckon. When we could listen to services like the police and ambulances, you got to hear of a lot more going on that was never reported in the news. I believe we were "better informed" by our scanning activities.

Cheers,

[Steve]

The 'news media' aren't only interested in 'entertaining'.

Plenty of car crashes - including fatal ones - occur that get no mention in print or electronic media. The fact is that, in 2011, not all fatal car crashes are newsworthy. That's not a comment on the media, but on what value various stories have in terms of the audience, society in general and to great extent, the kind of 'news day' it is. While Queensland was in flood - a major national story - just about every other story, national and local, got dropped. The media can only report what they have the capacity to report.

I'm glad to hear the police were able to give you in the information you need. They are the ideal source of information in this situation: reliable and accurate. Going to them was the best thing to do.