Oxley and New England police issue road safety warning after fatal crashes at Armidale, Inverell and Metz

A woman aged in her 50s was the latest victim to lose her life on New England roads in just the last three days when she was killed on Monday morning.

Police are still trying to piece together the moments before the car she was travelling in and a truck collided on the Gwydir Highway, about 22km out of Inverell.

"This weekend has been tragic for all concerned," head of highway patrol for the Peel cluster Inspector Kelly Wixx told the Leader.

The crash came a day after a Walcha woman died in a Newcastle hospital after she was critically injured on Saturday afternoon on the Grafton Road at Metz, just out of Armidale.

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Just hours earlier, a Casino man died when he collided with an oncoming horse float being towed on the New England Highway at Black Mountain, north of Armidale.

Inspector Wixx said investigations were under way by highway patrol police, detectives, crime scene investigators as well as the Crash Investigation Unit into all three fatal crashes. No charges have been laid.

Investigators are preparing briefs for the coroner to rule on the cause of the crashes.

"It's really sad, when you have fatalities in regional areas, they are members of the local community, and people know them," Inspector Wixx said.

New England police Inspector Darren Williams said "you never forget" every fatality, especially in country towns.

"The loss of the lady at Walcha will have a big effect on the community up there," he said.

"The roads aren't the best, we all know that, we've seen the damage from the weather, and it hasn't stopped.

"We're just reminding people they need to have breaks, drive to the road conditions, you know all that so they can get to their destination safely.

"Drink driving, mobile phones, seatbelts, that all contributes to crashes, and all we want is for locals to get from A to B safely."

Inspector Williams said the fatal crashes were a timely reminder for people "to think about their driving habits".

"Traffic is moving again, we're out of COVID lockdowns, people are moving around the state, we've got floodwaters and wild weather, and it's a timely reminder coming towards the Christmas period and school holidays," he said.

"We just need motorists to be more attentive."

Inspector Wixx said motorists should allow extra time for travel given the state of the roads across the New England and North West.

"Watch the potholes, obviously the roads are very slippery, all the additional rainfall can leave the ground soft on the edges of the road which is quite dangerous," she said.

"We're asking people to please just be vigilant, please slow down and leave enough space in case you need to take evasive action."

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