Buxton Crash: Why experts say the horror smash that killed five teenagers was ‘entirely predictable’

The tragic deaths of five teenagers killed in a horror smash in southwest Sydney could have been prevented, road safety experts say.

Five schoolmates, aged between 14 and 16, were killed on Tuesday night when a Nissan Navara ute slammed into a tree on East Parade in the small town of Buxton, 100km southwest of Sydney.

The driver, 18-year-old Tyrell Edwards, was the sole survivor of the crash. The P-plater has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

Experts said the five deaths were the result of a ‘cocktail of risk factors’ which had in this instance proved fatal but, in reality were ‘completely predictable’.

Experts have said the tragic deaths of five teenagers killed in a horror smash in Buxton could have been prevented (pictured, the driver Tyrell Edwards, 18, and victim Lily Van De Putte, 15)

Experts say the horror smash was the result of a ‘cocktail of risk factors’ which in this instance had proven fatal but in reality were ‘completely predictable’

Bunches of flowers have been left by mourners, many Picton High students, at the crash scene

Police have said at the time of the crash, six teenagers had been crammed into the five-seater ute, which only had four seatbelts. 

Unrestrained passengers are eight times more likely to be killed in a road crash – with one of the Buxton victims flung from the ute’s cab onto the roadway.

According to the NSW Centre for Road Safety, since the introduction of the Graduated Licensing Scheme in 2000, young driver deaths have been halved. 

However, injury prevention expert Professor Rebecca Ivers says while the death rate had dropped, young drivers were still over-represented. 

‘It just doesn’t shift,’ the head of the School of Population Health at the University of NSW told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Prof Ivers said there were some obvious risk factors involved in the crash. 

Police have said at the time of the crash, six teenagers had been crammed into the five-seater ute, which only had four seatbelts (pictured, women mourn at the crash scene)

Experts say when a young driver has two or more passengers, they have at a two to three times greater risk of being involved in a fatal crash (pictured, teenagers kneel at the crash site)

These include the number of occupants, the poor quality of roads in regional areas, the lack of speed cameras, the age and gender of the driver and that the vehicle had fewer seatbelts than occupants. 

Research has found the more young people inside a vehicle, the more likely a driver will be encouraged by passengers to drive recklessly. 

When a young driver has two or more passengers, they have at a two to three times greater risk of being involved in a fatal crash. 

Statistics have also found the gender of the driver can factor in their crash risk.  

Men account for about 76 per cent of fatalities on NSW roads, with young drivers involved in 18 per cent of fatal crashes between 2017 to 2020. 

This is despite the age group only accounting for only 13 per cent of licence holders.

Police have said speed is a possible factor in the Buxton crash with speed accounting for a staggering 41 per cent of road fatalities (pictured, a teenager mourns at the crash site)

Remnants of a green P-plate could be scene at the site where five teens died in a car accident

Of the drives involved in fatal crashes between 2017 and 2021, 10 per cent were on their P-plates – 74 per cent were men and 26 per cent were women.

Police have said speed is a possible factor in the Buxton crash. Speed accounts for a staggering 41 per cent of road fatalities on NSW roads. 

Professor Raphael Grzebieta from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine said young drivers lack the perception and driving experience to properly assess risk. 

‘If you are driving at 80 km/h and you hit a tree, it is equivalent to driving off the roof of a six-storey building and hoping you will survive. They won’t,’ he told the Herald. 

He said young drivers rarely crash when accompanied by their parents.

It comes as first responders, residents, and devastated friends and family of the Buxton crash victims process the loss of the five Picton High School students. 

One of the female victim’s friends (pictured with her mother on Wednesday) wept at the site

Paramedics were pictured wheeling the male driver towards an ambulance that took the 18-year-old to Liverpool Hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing (pictured) 

Three girls and two boys, all friends aged between 14 and 16, were killed in the crash.

Edwards was found curled up in shock near the split-in-two wreckage of the ute and was able to talk with first responders before he was taken to hospital for treatment and routine tests. 

The first person to arrive at the scene was a former nurse who had ‘seen it all’ but described the havoc at the crash site as the ‘worst of the worst’.

Local firefighter Cindy Morris, who is a mother-of-two, arrived at the horror scene shortly after.

‘That was a very difficult job,’ she told A Current Affair.

‘I’ve been to many fatalities in the area and that was the worst I have ever been to. It is something I will need to process and that will take a bit of time.’

A father of one of the girls revealed he’s haunted by a text message he received just hours before the crash where she asked: ‘Dad, can I go out tonight?’.

He had been in hospital himself that day undergoing a procedure and missed the text from ‘his baby girl’ while he was in surgery.

‘The answer would have been no, it was a school night. But I never got the text,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.

He added that he and his family held no grudge against the drive, saying that he too is facing a lifetime of grief.

Friends and relatives flocked to the scene of the accident throughout Wednesday.

The father of a 16-year-old male victim placed a pair of runners at the crash tree and emptied a can of Redbull over the flowers.

She placed a photograph of the victim as a young girl – photoshopped with a yellow halo over her head (pictured)

A woman could be seen crouching down to pay her respects (pictured)

Five teenagers have been killed in a horror crash around 100km southwest of Sydney

Sinking to the ground on his knees, he sobbed and was surrounded by a group of family members who hugged and cried, as one woman yelled, ‘No!’.

Camden Police Superintendent Paul Fuller said families of the victims rushed to the scene after hearing about the crash on social media – and that alcohol was not believed to be a factor.

‘It’s a horrific accident scene and a tragedy of this magnitude is going to have ripple effects… for their families, friends and through the local community,’ Supt Fuller said.

‘I’ve been in the police for 38 years and it’s one of the worst accident scenes I’ve ever come across.

Edwards has been refused bail to appear at Picton Local Court on Thursday.