Colin Caudell had every reasonable expectation that his traffic controller wife would return home after her work shift.
But in 2013, Suzanne Caudell was struck and killed by a truck travelling 106kmh in a 60kmh zone on the Bruce Highway near Marlborough, north of Rockhampton.
For the past 13 years, Mr Caudell has been rigorously campaigning for reform after witnessing his wife’s death as he worked alongside her.
The couple had taken up work as traffic controllers after travelling around Australia as grey nomads.
Mr Caudell says road worker safety and transparency around how fatalities are recorded in Queensland remain unresolved issues. He argues that deaths at roadworks sites on public highways are effectively “hidden in the data”.
The Coolum resident says current reporting does not reveal the “true trauma picture”, and that without stronger oversight and clearer reporting frameworks, “we cannot learn from each fatality or make decisions that save lives”.
Mr Caudell says Queensland publishes weekly road toll figures through the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
However, there is no single, publicly accessible source that integrates road fatalities, work-related road deaths, serious injury hospitalisations and enforcement data in one place or in near-real time.
“My wife’s death was hidden in the data,” he says.
“Because workplace safety data is recorded separately from the public road toll, deaths of road workers on public roads are not reflected in the headline figures. If someone wanted to know how many road workers were killed or seriously injured on Queensland roads last year, they would have to piece that together from multiple agencies, delayed data sets and sometimes formal information requests.”
Travis Schultz & Partners acted for Mr Caudell in a personal injury claim following his wife’s death.
Partner Greg Spinda says the way road trauma is classified contributes to that visibility problem.
“A traffic controller killed at a roadworks site does not appear in a public ‘road worker’ category,” Mr Spinda says.
“They are absorbed into broader labourer and construction data, which obscures the specific risk profile of roadwork environments. From a legal and policy perspective, that makes it harder to isolate risk patterns and implement targeted reforms.”
Mr Spinda says that while better data integration is critical, the behaviours driving Queensland’s road toll remain deeply concerning. The state’s 308 road deaths in 2025 mark our highest annual toll in 16 years.
“We continue to see crashes caused by inattention, intoxication and excessive speed – the same poor behaviours we’ve been warning about for years,” Mr Spinda says.
“Road workers are especially vulnerable because they are exposed on high-speed corridors where a single, reckless decision can have catastrophic consequences.”
Mr Caudell has written to Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg and local representatives again in recent months, seeking action and a response to his concerns.
He says he has received automated acknowledgements but no substantive reply. He is now calling for the establishment of an independent, legislated Queensland road safety commissioner to oversee transparent reporting of fatalities, serious injuries and enforcement statistics, and to ensure data from transport, workplace safety and health systems is integrated and publicly accessible.
“A commissioner would not invent new data,” Mr Caudell says.
“They would ensure the data we already collect is not hidden, delayed or fragmented, and that Queenslanders can properly scrutinise what is happening on our roads.”
My Weekly Preview sought comment from Mr Mickelberg about Mr Caudell’s quest and received this written response: “I was deeply sorry to hear about Suzanne Caudell, and it’s admirable that Mr Caudell has turned a personal tragedy into action.
“While I disagree a road safety commissioner is the right step at this time, I agree that more needs to be done to ensure fewer people lose their lives on our roads.
“The Crisafulli Government will continue working to get our road toll down through strong enforcement, education and improvements to our road network.”
Mr Caudell says there was no public coronial inquest into Suzanne’s death.
“This can’t happen again,” he says.
“We owe it to every family shattered by road trauma to do better.”
