As of Wednesday night, 146 people have died on Queensland roads in 2022 — 17 more than this time last year.
Last year, 277 people died on Queensland roads, which was 29 more fatalities than the previous five-year average.
The deadly driving behaviour of some motorists has left Queensland's police commissioner "gobsmacked", as authorities are at a loss to explain why the number of deaths on the state's roads continues to climb.
Higher speeds, not wearing seatbelts, and inattention have risen in the past six months, and Queensland may have one of its worst road tolls in years, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said.
Commissioner Carroll said post-pandemic there were more police and technology on the roads detecting "people doing the wrong thing" than ever before.
"The behaviour is something that we have not seen before — not only here, but my colleagues across the country report the same, and across the world," she said.
She said a road safety summit would be held involving community, government and stakeholders to "get a sense of why and how do we change this".
"We're all grappling with this, so I implore, as do my people constantly because we are always out there, to please, when you are on the road, follow those road rules, be responsible for yourself, look out for others,'' she said.
"I'm just gobsmacked some days about the behaviour of people on the road and what it's resulted in."
Summit hopefully a starting point for change
Queensland Police Service (QPS) figures show fixed cameras had detected up to a 53 per cent increase in people speeding in parts of the state since January, many driving more than 40 kilometres per hour over the speed limit.
"We hoped that trend would turn around but it hasn't," Road Policing Command Acting Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder said.
He said areas in southern, south-west and central Queensland such as the Darling Downs and Mackay had the highest rates of road deaths despite significant police resources.
Shine Lawyers special counsel Kylie Carson has seen much devastation in her role representing clients impacted by road deaths for the past 16 years.
She said it could change people's lives in the "blink of an eye" with no chance to say goodbye when their loved ones were taken from them.
"As someone acting for these clients, I go home and reflect — you are living your life in one moment, and tomorrow it could be gone and totally different," Ms Carson said.
"I think it makes it worse when it's just not an accident, when there's other things that have happened that are totally preventable — alcohol, drugs, high speeds."
Ms Carson said she hoped all the data on the causes and factors in roads deaths was comprehensively reviewed before the road safety summit was held.
"You can't fix something if you don't know where to start,'' she said.
An Australian dream cut short
One Brisbane family reeling from such a loss is the widow and young son of 36-year-old IT worker Shahid Islam, who was killed by a driver of a stolen 4WD that ploughed into him on October 15, 2019.
Mr Islam was returning from cleaning and preparing his home in Griffin, north of Brisbane, which he had bought with his wife, Jannatul Fardhousi.
They had purchased the house for their four-year-old son so he could live near parks and have a better lifestyle.
The move also meant they lived near Mr Islam's best friend, Maxi Haque, and his family.
"They wanted to have the life as any other Australian dreams: have a home, have kids," Mr Haque said.
"They were thinking about having more kids to raise here in Australia, which they thought it was safer and better.
"Their son hasn't got many memories of his dad and I tried to share stories about his dad [so] that he knows that he was a great human being."
He said Mr Islam's parents and siblings in Bangladesh also suffered.
"I think Jannatul is doing a lot better now. At first, she couldn't work for several months and there were many nights when we had to go their place to help her … we have seen her grief first-hand,'' he said.
Ms Fardhousi remarried in March this year but it took a "lot of effort" from family and friends to help her move forward, Mr Haque said.
He described Mr Islam as a "fantastic, happy-go-lucky person" who loved his family, friends and cricket.
A coroner's findings into the accident released to Mr Islam's family last month found the driver of the stolen 4WD, Jordan Cubby, told police he had no memory of killing his passenger and friend, John Weatherall, or Mr Islam.
Cubby was driving on the wrong side of the Gympie Arterial Road at Bald Hills when the vehicle smashed into Mr Islam's car just before midnight.
Cubby also seriously injured a second passenger, Shantelle Lucas.
State coroner Terry Ryan said Cubby, Weatherall and Lucas had "significant criminal histories".
Mr Ryan said police called off an attempted intercept of the stolen 4WD seven minutes before the collision.
He said the police officers' actions were lawful, reasonable and justified.
CCTV footage showed Cubby narrowly avoided hitting two oncoming cars before killing Mr Islam.
Mr Ryan said blood taken from Cubby showed high levels of methylamphetamine and amphetamine, but no alcohol.
"Had a bit of ice. Got it from in the city. Had a bit of heroin. Probably an hour before the crash,'' Cubby said in the police interview.
Mr Ryan said Cubby told police he wanted to "say sorry to the poor person he crashed into".
Cubby was jailed in 2020 for more than 14 years for two counts of manslaughter and several other offences.
Editor's note (7/9): This story has been updated to reflect that 277 people died on Queensland roads in 2021.
