Roza Abebwa, mother killed in crash, remembered by family as Mayor Jon Raven calls for hoon crackdown
Updated ,first published
A 51-year-old Victorian woman who died in a serious crash south of Brisbane on Saturday night is remembered by her family and the community hundreds of miles away as a “light to many”.
Mother-of-eight Roza Abebwa was visiting family near Logan when the car she was traveling in with her 28-year-old niece and great-nephew collided head-on with the ute and was thrown off the road.
Abebwa died at the scene.
At an online fundraiser, her son Rashidi Edward said Abebwa was “the kind of person who made you feel safe, seen and cared for.”
“She was a selfless person in every sense of the word, always putting her children and others before herself without hesitation. My mother wasn’t just our mother…she was everyone’s mother,” Edward said.
“We are so sorry to say that life will never be the same without him.
“It was our foundation, our strength, our home.”
While Abebwa’s nephew and great-nephew were also injured in the accident, the two-year-old child, who was taken to Queensland Children’s Hospital on Monday, was stated to be in stable condition.
Police were still investigating the crash on Monday and had not ruled out a connection to a “very large-scale incident” that officers knew took place nearby on Saturday night.
Initial investigations showed the other car – a Ford Falcon ute driven by a 17-year-old girl – had its headlights off and was attempting to overtake the line of three cars by driving on the wrong side of School Road at Logan Reserve, south of Brisbane.
School Road, about half an hour’s drive south of the Brisbane CBD, has uneven grassy sections on both sides of the road and no bituminous shoulders.
As there is only one lane in each direction, overtaking is common and on Monday afternoon multiple cars were seen crossing the center line to pass a garbage truck.
A teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers were left nearby at the debris-strewn crash scene.
On Monday, Logan Mayor Jon Raven called for stronger policing and tougher laws against incidents across the state.
“Society is absolutely losing its mind,” he told Brisbane radio station 4BC.
“They want more police, they want stricter laws, [and] They want more action because we can no longer accept this kind of behavior happening on our streets.
“This was a completely preventable tragedy because this person – this maggot – decided to overtake three cars at once on a poorly lit narrow road.”
Raven said police needed more resources from the state government to crack down on shouting behavior and prevent gatherings, and that people convicted of juggling offenses should have their licenses revoked.
“People do stupid things going to these events,” he said.
“There are no consequences right now, so even if they get caught, all the cops can do is seize the car… but that car has no value to the person driving it.”
On Sunday, Acting Superintendent Peter Venz said police were investigating whether speed, driver behavior or vehicle compliance contributed to the crash.
He criticized young drivers involved in honing incidents and driving dangerously in the city.
“Half the reason they do this is to try to get some views so they can get likes on social media,” he said. “I find this quite sad.
“The community is tired of this. They are afraid. They don’t want to have to go home at night and encounter this type of behavior.”
Following the accident, a social media post said to have come from the organizers of the hooning event stated that the event was cancelled. A second post offered “thoughts and prayers” to the Victorian woman’s loved ones.
The four teens in the ute were taken to Logan Hospital, and Venz said the 17-year-old driver was tested for illegal drugs or alcohol.
One of the four was discharged on Sunday. Police had not yet filed charges Monday.
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