4 days ago
Four Targa Tasmania rally race deaths due to 'driver error', coroner concludes
A coroner has concluded "driver error" was the cause of four deaths in three separate rally accidents, which occurred during the Targa Tasmania races in 2021 and 2022.
Veteran driver Shane Navin was killed in the 2021 race when his 1979 Mazda RX-7 crashed at Double Barrel Creek on the Mount Arrowsmith stage of the race on the state's west coast.
His co-driver Glenn Evans survived.
The following day, driver Leigh Mundy, 68, of Hobart, and his co-driver Dennis Neagle, 59, of Withcott, Queensland, crashed on Wattle Grove Road near Cygnet.
The following year, on the first day of the competition, Anthony 'Tony' Seymour died in a crash on the Mt Roland stage in the state's north-west.
A coronial inquest was held in Hobart last year to examine the deaths of the Targa Tasmania competitors.
In his findings, released on Thursday, Tasmanian coroner Simon Cooper said the common factor for deaths of Mr Mundy, Mr Neagle and Mr Seymour was "excessive speed".
"I do not consider Mr Mundy and Mr Seymour took adequate precautions and care for their own safety (and the safety of their passengers) by driving at speeds that were, in all of the circumstances, excessive," Mr Cooper said.
"I consider Mr Navin's death was also due to driver error."
Mr Cooper also found that the driver's health was a "factor in each case".
"I do not consider people suffering from the medical conditions that Mr Mundy and Mr Seymour had, should have been competing in such an event," he said.
Mr Cooper said recommendations made from an internal review of the event "were comprehensive, and … adequately address many of the factors associated with the inquest".
That review made 94 recommendations in February 2023 to make future events safer.
The Motorsport Australia review, which made sweeping changes to Targa rules and safety requirements, came in the wake of four deaths within two years during Tasmanian events.
In February 2023, the Targa Review Panel released its report with 94 recommendations.
The popular events draw hundreds of competitors from around the country who race on public roads across a number of days.
Targa Tasmania is a six-day 1,900-kilometre rally.
