Hayette Hanna wonders if her sister might still be alive today if there was better phone reception along Picton Road.
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On a dark night in September 2015 Ms Hanna was a passenger in a car driven by her sister when they were involved in a head-on collision on Picton Road.
It was a collision that killed her sister – a widow and mother of five – and injured her so badly she still hasn't been able to return to work.
“An ice-affected driver crossed onto the wrong side of the road and collected us,” Ms Hanna said.
“He killed my sister and he seriously injured me.”
There wasn’t much passing traffic at 7.30pm on that Tuesday night, but, as luck would have it, an off-duty police officer called Cheryl was passing by.
Ms Hanna’s own mobile didn’t work; she couldn't call emergency services or her husband Joe. So Cheryl tried to call on her own phone.
“Cheryl connected with Joe and said, “this is Cheryl from NSW Police’ and that’s all he heard and then phone died.
“It was an agonising hour before [she could get through and] he could get details of what happened.”
Cheryl was also able to call ambulances to the scene.
Ms Hanna isn’t sure whether her sister would have survived if emergency services were contacted earlier, but she’s certain improved mobile phone coverage on Picton Road “will save lives”.
State Keira MP Ryan Park and federal MP Sharon Bird have joined together to push for improved coverage along Picton Road.
Ms Bird said she would quiz the government on the status of a base station at Coalcliff could provide mobile phone reception across Picton Road.
The federal government announced funding for the base station in 2015.
“This vital arterial road is heavily utilised by commuters, freight and tourists – we need to ensure that mobile signal is available in case of fire, accidents and other emergencies,” Ms Bird said.
Mr Park said he would push the NSW government to work with their federal counterparts to reduce blackspots on Picton Road.
“In the 21st century to not be able to contact emergency services due to a mobile phone blackspot is just not good enough,” Mr Park said.