Ferguson crash: Driver, 27, killed as ute slams into tree near Bunbury

A 37-year-old driver has been killed in a crash in WA’s southwest, just hours after police made a desperate plea to motorists amid a deadly few days on the state’s roads.

A Mitsubishi Triton was heading south on Ferguson Rd near Bunbury, 180km south of Perth, on Tuesday morning when the car veered off the road and slammed into a tree.

The 37-year-old driver was critically injured and died at the scene.

Officers from the major crash unit are now investigating and have appealed for witnesses.

It is the eighth fatality in crashes since Friday. Seven fatalities were recorded in four crashes over the weekend alone.

“I don’t know how to explain the sadness and devastation that the families of those loved ones must be feeling right now,” acting road police commander Mike Peters said on Monday.

Last year was the deadliest 12-month period on WA roads in close to a decade.

And with the road toll for 2025 already higher that at the same point in 2024, police made an impassioned plea to try to stem the flow of avoidable crashes.

“When you get behind the wheel of (a vehicle) make sure you understand what you’re taking responsibility for,” Peters said.

“You’re taking responsibility for your life, but you’re also taking responsibility for other people’s lives that are using the road.”

Meanwhile, police are also investigating after a woman was critically injured when she was hit by a passing car on a major highway in Perth.

Police said the 36-year-old was walking in the southbound lanes of Tonkin Hwy near Collier Rd in Bayswater, six kilometres northeast of the CBD, just after 4am on Tuesday when she was hit by a Ford Falcon.

She is fighting for life in Royal Perth Hospital. The 60-year-old driver was uninjured.