Mr Draper’s wife and twin daughters had been in a car accident at the notorious Murrami Road and Main Road 80 intersection.

They were on their way to swimming lessons in Griffith when a vehicle travelling south on Murrami Road failed to give way at the Main Road 80 intersection, plowing into them.

Thankfully no one was killed, but Mella, Daniella and Jessica, both 10, were taken to hospital in Griffith by paramedics.

Jessica required surgery on her knee and is now recovering back home and at school in Leeton.

The driver of the other vehicle was unharmed, but the Drapers will need to buy a new vehicle.

The intersection is a notorious one and, while there is plenty of signage warning drivers they are approaching a crossroad, including a new flashing light, Mr Draper has called for more to be done.

An engineer himself, he believes the intersection should be reconstructed to form a staggered “T” intersection.

In the past decade two people have died at the intersection, but there have been many similar accidents to the one Mr Draper’s family were involved in.

“That’s not including all of the near-fatalities that have happened there, but because they are near-misses they aren’t reported,” he said.

“Something needs to be done. It’s obvious the signs are not having an affect.

“It’s a dangerous road and we shouldn’t have to wait for someone else to be killed to have something change there.”

The intersection comes under the jurisdiction of the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and Leeton Shire Council mayor Paul Maytom said he wouldn’t rest until the organisation came on board to provide a solution.

“Something needs to be done … it’s crazy how many accidents have happened there and yet nothing has been done,” he said.

“I have raised this issue with the RMS in recent weeks, but they don’t see it as being a high priority.

“Well, we say it is. I want to get them out there and show them exactly. I would happily take them for a drive coming from Murrami to show how easy it is to have an accident there.

“If you’re not paying attention and you’ve already come through other similar intersections on the approach to Main Road 80, it’s very easy to just drive straight through.

“We certainly agree something needs to be done there and I’ll be pushing for that myself.”

Mr Draper said the change needed to trigger a thought in drivers minds and he believes the current signage isn’t enough.

“It’s clearly not working,” he said.

Mr Draper will be lobbying council to find the money in their own budget to upgrade the intersection and make it safer, even if the RMS doesn’t provide funding itself.

He would like to hear from residents who have had any near-misses themselves at the location to bolster the case and need for the work to take place.

“Something needs to happen and it needs to happen now,” Mr Draper said.

“I don’t want anyone to have to receive a phone call like I did.

“It could have been a very different result, but thank God it wasn’t.

“As a community I think this is something we need to be pushing for.

“We need to show we want this intersection to be changed and that it can’t wait any longer.

“Let this be the council that can say ‘during my term I helped to put an end to this death trap.”

Residents who have been involved in an accident or a near-miss at the intersection have been urged to record their story by emailing Mr Draper at ian@mellian.com or send it to talia.pattison@fairfaxmedia.com.au.

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