Calls are mounting for an overhaul of the reversible lane system on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after two men died after crashing in the infamous ‘suicide lane’.
In vision of the horror crash, a blue Hyundai i30 travelling on the outside northbound lane is seen drifting into oncoming traffic in the inside southbound lane.
The car slammed into a white Hyundai Accent at about 1.30pm on Thursday causing two fatalities and injuries to several others, including a mum-to-be.
A growing chorus of Aussies are questioning the safety of the bridge’s reversible lane system which alters the flow of north and southbound traffic.
The direction of lane four, better know by Sydneysiders as the ‘death’ or ‘suicide’ lane is typically reversed after peak-hour traffic each morning before returning to servicing northbound lanes in the afternoon.
A green tick or a red cross above the lanes indicates which can be used, however dozens of motorists said they made sure to avoid the infamous ‘death lane’.
‘So tragic. I drive in that lane regularly. I hate it. They call it the ‘suicide lane’ for obvious reasons. Rest in peace those poor people,’ one person wrote online.
‘The Harbour Bridge set-up has always been super dicey with the proximity of oncoming traffic in the middle lanes,’ a second shared.
Red crosses and green ticks (red-circled) indicate which lanes are available to drivers travelling northbound and southbound on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
A blue Hyundia i30 is seen crossing into the southbound lane in footage of the fatal crash
‘A third wrote: ‘I hate those lanes on the bridge. Every time I drive on it I stay on the outside lanes, I never use the inside lane, I always think it’s an accident waiting to happen and today it tragically did’.
Many agreed that concrete crash barriers or bollards needed to be installed on the bridge between the northbound and southbound traffic.
Others wanted the reversible lane system done away with entirely.
‘Variable lanes without a concrete physical barrier like they do on Victorian roads are simply dangerous,’ one woman wrote.
‘That’s why these roads are so stupid. You really trust people to drive at highway speeds with no median and lanes that change direction so you have to look at lights above the road?’ another said in reference to the tick and cross system.
Crews arrived to the scene to find one man dead amongst the wreckage.
The male driver of another vehicle had to be cut free from the twisted metal by fire crews, before dying a short time later.
Clean-ups and investigations on the bridge brought citywide traffic to a halt on Thursday
Sydney City Acting Superintendent Clayton McDonald said it appeared one vehicle travelling northbound veered ‘for some unknown reason’ into the southbound lanes, which caused a first collision and then multiple further collisions.
All southbound traffic on the bridge came to a halt and only one northbound lane remained open, causing traffic chaos in the city on Thursday afternoon.
Police were working to notify the next of kin of the two men who died in the crash and both are yet to be formally identified.
‘A police investigation is currently underway into the double fatal crash on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Thursday and Transport for NSW will consider its findings,’ a spokesperson for Transport for New South Wales told Daily Mail Australia.
‘In 2022, Transport installed clearer signage for motorists on the Bridge following a speed zone and signage review.
‘The Sydney Harbour Bridge is not wide enough to fit a moveable barrier system and retain all lanes in what is Sydney’s most important traffic route.
‘In 2015, following a serious collision, the use of a ‘zipper’ machine, similar to that used on Victoria Road at Drummoyne to move the barrier, was considered. However, it was found not to be suitable as it would force the removal of one lane from the Bridge, reducing traffic capacity by 15 per cent.’
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