The high number of road deaths has increased in a shockingly tragic start to 2021, with 39 people dead from 35 fatal crashes in the state so far this year. Both figures are a huge increase on this time last year, with 17 more fatal crashes and 20 more deaths as of last Sunday. Queensland was the only state to record an increase in road deaths for 2020 with a toll of 267, 57 more than in 2019. 89 people died inside the Central police region last year, a span that includes Gympie, the Sunshine Coast and the Fraser Coast. Officer in Charge of the Wide Bay Burnett District Road Policing Unit Sergeant Chris Watson said there were three more fatalities attended by the Gympie Patrol Group last year than there were in 2019.