To get into Wollongong, you basically have your choice of two downhill runs.

There's the long, steady downhill of Mt Ousley, where you either put the car in low gear or get quite familiar with the brake pedal until you get to the bottom.

The other option is Bulli Pass. While it's not quite as long, it is much steeper in places - and has that really tight hairpin.

A hairpin that once went by the name of the devil's elbow.

What it means is that Wollongong is a tricky town to enter; you don't want to be heading our way if your vehicle has dodgy brakes.

It seems almost a regular occurrence that an out-of-control truck races down Mt Ousley, before ending up in the car park at McDonald's.

In fact it's something that's been happening for decades - the intersection was called a deathtrap as far back as the 1950s.

As for Bulli Pass, last month we saw what happens when a truck driver loses control of their vehicle as it heads down that road.

But again, that's been happening for years and years.

It makes you wonder just what Roads and Maritime Services can do to stop this from happening.

There's no way they can overcome the steep geography of the run into Wollongong - they can't blast away the escarpment to make a flat level road.

Even if it was technically feasible the cost of such a project would be astronomical.

As far as Bulli Pass is concerned there has been talk that the final stage of the Memorial Drive extension would make the route safer.

That seems doubtful, given the steepest part of the pass is actually above where Memorial Drive would link up - and the drive would still include a downhill run anyway.

It would seem the best we can hope for are safety measures that reduce the damage when such incidents occur.

It's hard to see what else they can do to combat the combination of loss of brakes and gravity.