Home and Away actress Jessica Falkholt fighting for life after triple-fatal Boxing Day crash
Updated
One of the two sisters in a critical condition after yesterday's triple-fatal head-on collision on the NSW south coast is an actress who appeared in the TV series Home and Away.
The sisters, Annabelle and Jessica Falkholt, aged 21 and 29 respectively, lost both their parents in the crash.
Ms Falkholt, a National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) alumni, played the role of Hope Morrison on the long-running Australian TV series in 2016.
She also starred in the Australian film Harmony, a supernatural thriller almost entirely shot in the Illawarra, which is set for release next year.
The accident took place on Boxing Day morning on the Princes Highway at Mondayong, about 400 metres north of the Bendalong turnoff and south of Sussex Inlet, with onlookers rushing to free the passengers.
The three people who died were in two separate cars — a 50-year-old man in one vehicle and the Falhkolt's parents in the other.
Police said the crash was caused by one car being on the wrong side of the road.
Jessica and Annabelle Falkholt remain in Liverpool and St George Hospitals with family by their sides.
'Drivers are taking these conditions for granted'
NSW police have since warned drivers about "fatigue and complacency" on the roads as the state's holiday fatality toll rises to 21.
A 25-year-old woman hit a tree when her SUV left the road near Taree, and a 23-year-old female passenger was killed when she fell out of a Jeep and hit a road sign at Peak Hill, north of Parkes.
A 63-year-old man was killed when his car left he road at Pappinbarra, near Port Macquarie, and a 42-year-old man died overnight when his Ford Falcon hit a parked truck at Emu Plains in Sydney's West.
NSW Police Chief Inspector Phil Brooks said 11 fatalities occurred after vehicles veered off the road.
"More than half of these have involved single vehicle run-offs either into a tree or a telegraph pole — sadly killing that driver and/or their passenger — which is an indicator to us that fatigue is the most likely outcome in these very sad and tragic events this close to Christmas," he said.
Chief Inspector Brooks said the cause of the crashes was "primarily complacency".
"Today, for example, perfect driving conditions right throughout the New South Wales road network and drivers are taking these conditions for granted," he said.
"They're not stopping every two hours, refreshing and changing drivers, rather they're punching on to that next country town, running the risk to themselves, passengers and other road users."
Chief Inspector Brooks said the state's road death toll was at 873 fatalities this year, up 12 from the same time last year.
All 600 highway patrol vehicles and 1,354 officers would be out on the roads today and in the lead up to the new year.
Topics: road, accidents, nsw, sydney-2000, newcastle-2300, wagga-wagga-2650, lismore-2480, parkes-2870, port-macquarie-2444, bega-2550, emu-plains-2750, sussex-inlet-2540, orange-2800, coffs-harbour-2450, wollongong-2500
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