One of the victims of the horrific crash that paralyzed Sydney has been identified.
Truck driver Jamal Choukri, 44, was one of two drivers killed in Thursday’s multi-vehicle crash on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Mr Choukri had moved from Morocco to Australia six years ago and was on his way to work in Botany.
Mr Choukri was driving in the southbound lanes when a 51-year-old man, driving a blue Hyundai i30, crossed the northbound lanes and into the path of oncoming traffic.
The driver of the Hyundai collided with a Mercedes before hitting Mr Choukri’s Hyundai Accent, tragically killing the 51-year-old and Mr Choukri.
Following the double-fatal crash, calls are rising for an overhaul of the reversible lane system on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, after two men died following a crash on the infamous ‘suicide lane’.
In a vision of the horror crash, a blue Hyundai i30 driving in the outer northbound lane is seen slamming into oncoming traffic in the inner southbound lane.
The car crashed into Mr Shukri’s white Hyundai Accent at around 1.30pm on Thursday, killing two and injuring several others, including an expectant mother.
Truck driver Jamal Choukri, 44, (pictured) was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on the Sydney Harbor Bridge on Thursday
Mr Choukri (pictured) moved to Australia from Morocco six years ago to start a new life
A growing chorus of Aussies are questioning the safety of the bridge’s reversible lane system, which alters the flow of northbound and southbound traffic.
The direction of lane four, better known to Sydneysiders as the ‘death’ or ‘suicide’ lane, is typically reversed every morning after rush hour before returning to the northbound lanes in the afternoon.
A green check mark or red cross above the lanes indicates which ones can be used, but dozens of motorists said they were careful to avoid the infamous “death lane.”
‘So tragic. I drive on that road regularly. I hate it. They call it the “suicide lane” for obvious reasons. Rest in peace those poor people,” someone wrote online.
“The design of the Harbor Bridge has always been very difficult due to the proximity of oncoming traffic in the center lanes,” said a second.
Red crosses and green check marks (circled in red) indicate which lanes are available for motorists traveling north and south on the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Footage of the fatal crash shows a blue Hyundia i30 entering the southbound lane
‘A third wrote: ‘I hate those lanes on the bridge. Every time I drive it I stay in the outside lanes, I never use the inside lane, I always think it’s an accident waiting to happen and today tragically it did.”
Many agreed that concrete barriers or bollards should be installed on the bridge between northbound and southbound traffic.
Others wanted the reversible lane system to be completely abolished.
“Variable lanes without a concrete physical barrier, such as on Victorian roads, are downright dangerous,” one woman wrote.
“That’s why these roads are so stupid. Do you really trust people to drive at highway speeds without a median and lanes that change directions so you have to look at the lights above the road?’ said another in reference to the tick and cross system.
Emergency services arrived on the scene and found a dead man among the wreckage.
The male driver of another vehicle had to be cut free from the twisted metal by firefighters before he died a short time later.
Cleaning work and investigations at the bridge brought traffic to a standstill throughout the city on Thursday
Sydney City Acting Chief Inspector Clayton McDonald said it appeared a northbound vehicle entered the southbound lanes “for an unknown reason”, causing an initial collision and subsequent multiple collisions.
All southbound traffic on the bridge came to a standstill and only one northbound lane remained open, causing traffic chaos in the city Thursday afternoon.
Police were working to notify next of kin of the two men killed in the crash and both have yet to be formally identified.
“A police investigation is currently underway into the double fatal crash on the Sydney Harbor Bridge on Thursday and Transport for NSW will consider the findings,” a Transport for New South Wales spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘In 2022, following a review of the speed zone and signage, Transport will install clearer signage for motorists on the Bridge.
‘The Sydney Harbor Bridge is not wide enough to accommodate a movable barrier system and maintain all lanes on what is Sydney’s main traffic route.
‘In 2015, following a serious collision, consideration was given to using a ‘zipper’ machine, similar to that used on Victoria Road near Drummoyne, to move the barrier. However, it turned out to be unsuitable as it would require removing one lane from the bridge, which would reduce traffic capacity by 15 percent.”
