A ‘caring’ mother-of-four killed in a horror three car crash in Victoria’s West Gippsland posted online about her determination to keep living.
Rhiannon Drake, 30, was travelling in the front seat of a bronze Jeep on the Princes Highway at Darnum, when it was hit by a truck about 8.40am on Monday, propelling the vehicle into two other cars.
Ms Drake died at the scene while the driver, a 32-year-old woman, and another passenger, a 14-year-old girl, were lifted to hospital with critical and serious injuries, respectively.
Eerily, Ms Drake’s motto in the intro section of her Facebook page reads: ‘My story is yet to finish’.
Rhiannon Drake, 30, (pictured) has been remembered as a ‘caring person’ and ‘amazing mother’
A devastated friend told Daily Mail Australia Ms Drake was an ‘amazing mother’ to her six sons – four biological and two step children – and always went out of her way to look after those around her.
‘She was always such a loving and caring person,’ the friend said.
‘She will be sadly missed.’
Her youngest son only celebrated his first birthday five weeks ago.
Friend Stacey-lee Charles said Ms Drake was ‘so loved’ and ‘made such a big impact’ in the lives of those who knew her.
‘I will forever cherish the time I had with you,’ Ms Charles wrote online.
‘It’s sad that moments like this make you realise to take time for friends and even catch up with old friends that you may not have spoken to in a while.
Ms Rhiannon was a mother to four sons and step sons, with her youngest boy turning one just five weeks ago
Ms Drake shared the above personal mantra on her Facebook page
”RIP Rhiannon… taken way too soon.’
Ms Drake and the two other women were from Warragul, however, it is understand the mother-of-four had recently moved from her hometown to Phillip Island.
Loved ones are now rallying behind the young mother’s family, with Brook Deverall setting up a GoFundMe to help her partner Steven and their children with funeral costs, bills and groceries.
‘Due to her sudden death there was no funeral arrangements in place,’ Ms Deverall wrote.
‘Any donation would be greatly appreciated.’
The tributes comes as authorities reveal the fatal collision has been linked to roadside mowing during the time of the crash.
Detective Sergeant Darryl Out said roadside mowing had changed traffic conditions in the area and vehicles on the road were ‘either stopped or moving very slowly’.
Rubbish, a shopping bag and scraps of metal were strewn across the road during the collision
The force of the collision sent the Jeep spinning sideways off the road and sent the Mitsubishi into an embankment
‘The truck driver, for whatever reason, has unfortunately struck the last vehicle in the line of cars,’ he said on Monday.
‘The mowing that was occurring in the right-hand lane, or off the right-hand lane, had the road signage vehicles travelling behind it to make everyone merge into the left-hand lane and the traffic had banked up.’
The 21-year-old female driver of a silver Mazda was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A 53-year-old man and teenage boy in a third car, a white Mitsubishi, were assessed at the scene by paramedics.
The truck driver, a 61-year-old man, is currently assisting police with their investigations.
Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the cause of the crash and its surrounding circumstances.
The fatal collision brings the number of lives lost on Victorian roads so far this year to 132.
The tragedy comes just two days after four people – a woman in her 30s and three teenagers – were killed when a red Toyota Corolla veered off Wannon-Nigretta Falls Road at Bochara, west of Melbourne, and struck a tree.
Police, fire crews and paramedics rushed to the scene of the multi-vehicle crash, about 113km southeast of Melbourne, during peak hour on Monday morning
Emergency crews were seen surrounding the white truck as they worked to clear the road
Last month, Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Glenn Weir said there has been a significant rise in multiple-fatality crashes this year compared to 2022 on Victorian roads.
In an emotional plea, he urged drivers to heed road rules after five people and a dog were killed after a ute was struck by a B-double truck near Strathmerton.
‘When the all the tape is taken down, all the cars are towed away, and everything is cleaned up and everyone will move on, it is quite easy for the crash to be something that happened the other week, the other month, or last year,’ he said.
‘But we can’t let it stop at that. It is time for people to wake up.
‘I don’t know what more we can do to try and appeal to people to take care.’
Anyone with any information about the Darnum crash is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Two of the cars came to a stop in grassland, with the silver Mazda hitting a fence
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