School holiday snow tourists urged to drive safely amid surge in vehicles sliding off road
More than 6,000 motorists were estimated to have attended ski resorts over the weekend, which forced road closures after car parks at Perisher and Thredbo reached capacity.
It is peak period in the Snowy Mountains due to the rush from the NSW and ACT school holidays.
"So far this snow season, there's been a fourfold increase on last year with people sliding off the side of the road," Transport for NSW operations management executive director Craig Moran said.
Mr Moran said there had been about 100 instances of cars sliding off the road so far this winter, but none were considered to be major crashes.
Roads remain busy today and Kosciuszko Road or Alpine Way may be closed again due to car parks filling up.
Visitors are encouraged to take public transport including the Skitube or the NSW government's Snowy Mountains Bus Service.
Drivers can subscribe to SMS alerts from Transport for NSW for information about car park capacity.
They are also being urged to fit snow chains to their tyres.
"Driver error and inexperience is playing a factor," Mr Moran said.
"Please slow down, be easy on the brake and accelerator and just be patient.
"Driver behaviour generally has been pretty good … it's just some people making poor choices."
Mechanics in Jindabyne have plenty of experience repairing vehicles during winter.
Snow Country Automotive co-owner Megan Shirk said it was "anticipated".
"Winter is our crazy, busy period," she said.
Ms Shirk said vehicles needed work after long trips, wildlife strikes or collisions en route to the ski resorts.
"Just last week we had a two-in-one job — one guy had swerved off the icy road into another girl's car," she said.
Ms Shirk said she could empathise with those travelling long distances to get to the slopes but urged drivers to slow down.
"I used to be a Sydneysider — I know the story," she said.
"You drive six hours or so to get here and all you want to do is get to the snow.
"I can understand people are impatient these days, but people aren't driving to the conditions and slowing down."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Catch-22 as international students continue to flow into Australia
International student arrivals continue to steadily increase, which could mean a massive boost for one of the nation's leading sectors. Australia welcomed 26,210 international students in May 2025, up from 24,270 in May 2024 and 22,500 in May 2023, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. As the rate of international student arrivals steadily increases, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver expects Australia's tertiary education industry to begin leapfrogging its way up the ladder of prominent national exports – a catch-22 for the Australian government, which announced it would place caps on total international student numbers in late 2024. 'We have been moving towards services, exports, particularly education,' Mr Oliver said. 'That's why we've got to be careful here that Australia doesn't shoot itself in the foot by restricting immigration that turns off the education export sector. 'I suspect if things had continued as they were, we would have found a situation where, in the next few years, education would be our second highest exporter ahead of gas and coal and still just behind iron ore – but it was always in a position to potentially become No.1.' Meanwhile, ABS data shows a minor lift in Aussie tourism, with 11,000 more people arriving from overseas than the previous year's reporting period. The figures also revealed other insights, particularly regarding short-term travel destinations for Aussies leaving the country and also the national origins of our most commonly welcomed tourists. The top three countries Aussies returned from in May were Indonesia (149,080), New Zealand (83,020) and Japan (82,920), followed by the US, China and Thailand. Indonesia and Japan were the only countries Aussies toured for short-term travel that greatly exceeded pre-Covid travel levels, while the US was notably the only country in the top 10 that experienced a significant decrease from pre-2019 levels. Indonesia is in the middle of its dry season, and as the ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to strongarm Aussies into avoiding big-ticket trips like Euro summers, short-term trips to islands like Bali are becoming more feasible for those hoping to seek offshore adventure. New Zealand experiences autumnal weather during the month of May, so while snowfall in popular ski areas is minimal, the proximity to Australia makes our small neighbour a popular tourist destination all year round. Fair summer weather paired with a drop-off in Yen value resulted in large numbers of Aussies making their way to and from Japan in May, with almost 24,000 more returns reported than in May 2024. The majority of those visiting Australia came from New Zealand (117,250), China (67,350) and India (47,940), with the only significant lift from 2024 traveller numbers coming from China. The majority of travel to and from Australia came through NSW across all measurements. Overall, the ABS reported 611,000 short-term visitor arrivals and 970,000 short-term residential returns. There were 1.66 million total arrivals and 1.68 million departures, meaning the overall population shrank by a relatively small fraction.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Advice - Explosive Hazard - Threat is Reduced
This Advice message is being issued for Wangaratta, between Sisely Avenue and Vincent Road. * The threat is reduced following the vehicle collision and fire on Frank Hayes Road. * Firefighters have made the acetylene cylinder safe. * There is no longer a risk of explosion. * This Advice message replaces the Warning issued at 1:26pm . People located within the area are now able to resume normal activities. What you should do: * You should avoid the immediate area of Frank Hayes Drive as emergency services are cleaning up. Impacts in your area: * There is a 50 metre exclusion zone in place on Frank Hayes Road while emergency services remain on scene. * This will be in place until approximately 3:30pm. * Tone Road has reopened. * The railway line has reopened and trains are running at a slow speed. This message was issued by Fire Rescue Victoria . This will be the final message issued for this incident. Use multiple sources to stay informed: * [ ] * VicEmergency Hotline [ ] - freecall 1800 226 226 * VicEmergency app [ ] * Facebook [ ] or Twitter [ ] * Tune in to ABC Local Radio, commercial and designated community radio stations, or Sky News TV. Accessibility: * The following services can help you, or someone you know, access information during an emergency. To access this information in other languages, call the Translating and Interpreting Service [ ] on 131 450 (freecall) and ask them to call VicEmergency Hotline. * If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech/communication impairment contact the National Relay Service [ ] and ask them to call the VicEmergency Hotline.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Inside Royal family's most scandalous vacation spots
Like anyone else, the royals love to let loose on a glitzy getaway. The British royal family's vacations are typically kept private. But over the years, their go-to destinations have made headlines. It turns out they don't just go to Balmoral, their Scottish estate, to reflect and spend time with loved ones. 'There have been many incidents of royal recreations which have raised eyebrows in the past,' Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. 'In the 1950s, Prince Philip regularly went on sailing trips to New Guinea, Ceylon and Malaysia for three months at a time, allegedly with female secretaries, leaving the queen alone in London.' 'Balmoral was always the official favourite for the royals and the queen chose [to spend] her last days there,' he shared. '[But] there were many [past] stories of girls rushing up to [the former Prince] Charles in skimpy bikinis when he was a bachelor visiting Australia.' The game Royal kids are forbidden to play Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams pointed out Prince Harry's escapades in Sin City are still legendary. 'Prince Harry's naked cavorting in Las Vegas was the perfect advertisement for the city – 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,'' Mr Fitzwilliams said. '[The city] reportedly benefited from the publicity enormously.' Harry wrote about his 2012 trip to Las Vegas in his explosive 2023 memoir 'Spare,' Vanity Fair reported. According to the Duke of Sussex, after a night of gambling and boozing, his pals invited a group of 'dodgy' women to his luxurious suite. 'I suggested we up the stakes,' Harry wrote, as quoted by the outlet. 'How about a game of strip pool? Enthusiastic cheers. Ten minutes later I was the big loser, reduced to my skivvies. 'Then I lost my skivvies. It was harmless, silly, or so I thought.' The photos from the night were posted on TMZ. And while Harry was expecting his father King Charles to reprimand him, he was 'gentle, even bemused.' 'He felt for me, he said he'd been there, though he'd never been naked on a front page,' Harry wrote. 'Actually, that was untrue. When I was about eight-years-old, a German newspaper had published naked photos of him, taken with a telephoto lens while he was holidaying in France.' But several royal experts agreed Harry wasn't the royal family's most well-known for escapades across the pond – it was the late queen's younger sister, Princess Margaret. Her lady-in-waiting's husband, Lord Colin Tennant, spent vast amounts of his fortune on transforming Mustique, a tiny island in the Caribbean, into a party resort for the rich and famous. He gifted Margaret a 10-acre plot of land on the island. 'Princess Margaret's scandalous affair with 'toy boy' turned wannabe disco star Roddy Llewellyn also unfolded on Mustique,' Vanity Fair reported. 'In 1976, photos of the couple frolicking on Mustique (Llewellyn wearing Union Jack swimming trunks) were published in The News of the World, hastening Margaret's separation from equally unfaithful husband Antony Armstrong-Jones.' Over the years, other royals have found themselves in hot water. Vanity Fair reported the 'most notorious vacation mishap in modern royal history' took place in 1992. Sarah, Duchess of York, who had separated from Prince Andrew, was soaking up the sun in St. Tropez with her beau, financier John Bryan. It was there where paparazzi snapped photos of Bryan sucking on her toes while she sunbathed topless. Sarah and Andrew's divorce was finalised in 1996. 'Recently, there haven't been any scandals,' British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. 'But back in 2012 … the topless photo scandal involving Kate Middleton … was considered in such poor taste that the media has stayed away from such [stories] in general.' In 2012, the French magazine Closer and the local newspaper La Provence published photos taken with telephoto lenses of the future Princess of Wales sunbathing topless with Prince William at a chateau in France, Glamour magazine reported. According to the outlet, the couple sued and were later awarded $US118,000 ($A179,000) in damages by a French court. While the royal family's vacations don't always take place during the steamy season, they are known for letting their hair down when duty doesn't call. According to Vanity Fair, the Prince and Princess of Wales, now parents of three young children, also enjoy embarking on family trips to Mustique, the Isles of Scilly, the ski resort of Courchevel in France, as well as Jordan, where Kate spent a part of her childhood. 'By all accounts, Prince William and Catherine are such upstanding royals that they simply aren't involved in any scandals,' Ms Fordwich added. For William and Harry, Africa has been a destination for love. Prince William proposed to Kate in Kenya in 2010. Harry and his then-girlfriend, Meghan Markle, travelled to his beloved Botswana in 2017. 'I gave her my best Botswana pitch,' Harry wrote in 'Spare,' as quoted by Vanity Fair. 'Birthplace of all humankind. Most sparsely populated nation on Earth. True Garden of Eden, with 40 per cent of the land given over to nature. 'Plus, the largest number of elephants of any nation on Earth. 'Above all, it was the place where I'd found myself, where I always re-found myself, where I always felt close to – magic? 'If she was interested in magic, she should come with me, experience it with me.' Since the couple tied the knot in 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly vacationed in Costa Rica, Canouan in the Caribbean, as well as Elton John's home in Nice. 'We look forward to hearing how they vacation in their reported holiday home in Portugal,' said Mr Fitzwilliams. Harry is said to have bittersweet memories of the south of France. In July 1997, his mother, Princess Diana, was photographed in St. Tropez on the Jonikal, Mohamed Al-Fayed's yacht. A month later, the Princess of Wales died from injuries she sustained in a Paris car crash at age 36. According to the outlet, Diana was known to use her getaway during the last year of her life to bargain with paparazzi, who were eager to take photos of her in stylish swimsuits. It's been said that Diana wanted to show the public that she was free after her divorce from Charles was finalised in 1996. 'There was much laughter, horseplay, the norm whenever Mummy and Willy and I were together, though even more so on that holiday,' Harry recalled in 'Spare,' as quoted by the outlet. 'Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven. The weather was sublime, the food was tasty, Mummy was smiling.' In recent years, Charles appears to be focusing on cost. While he still maintains his late mother's tradition of spending his summers in Balmoral, Buckingham Palace announced that the king will end 156 years of service for the Royal Train. The palace noted it costs too much to operate and would need a significant upgrade for more advanced rail systems. 'It is a pity this did not happen in the 1990s,' Mr Fitzwilliams said. 'The Royal Yacht Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997, should have been saved … It was famously used for the royal family's summer holiday when Queen Elizabeth could relax at her beloved Balmoral. 'This became a rite of passage for members of the royal family.' 'A royal favourite was the Britannia,' chimed Mr Turner. 'It was one of the few times the queen was seen to shed a tear when it was decommissioned due to cutbacks in finances.'
