Car hits tree, killing Gold Coast man, as state’s road toll more than doubles

A man has died after the car in which he was a passenger clipped the median strip and slammed into a tree on the Gold Coast overnight.

Queensland’s road toll this year has risen to more than two-and-a-half times higher that of last year’s, with 31 lives lost as of Sunday, compared with the 12 people killed by the same time in 2020.

In the latest tragedy, a black Mazda 6 was travelling along Pitcairn Way in Pacific Pines just before 5pm on Sunday when it hit the median strip before crashing into a tree.

A 33-year-old male passenger, who lived in the Gold Coast suburb of Labrador, died at the scene.