A four-year-old boy struck by a utility in the carpark of a north Queensland ten pin bowling alley, is the latest person to die in a road-related incident in the state.
The child succumbed to his injuries in Townsville Hospital on Thursday morning after he was struck at Thuringowa in the city's west the day before.
Police said the boy was leaving the ten pin bowling alley with his family just after midday on Wednesday when he appeared to walk into the path of the ute.
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.
There are growing concerns among police about Queensland's mounting road toll especially among pedestrians and motorcyclists.
As of Thursday morning, 193 people had lost their lives on the state's roads, nine more than at the same time last year.
In the south-east region encompassing the Gold Coast and Logan, the road toll has more than doubled in the year to date with 32 lives lost compared with 15 at the same time last year.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Mike Keating said a couple of "disturbing patterns" had emerged in road behaviours that were contributing to the increase.
"One is the issue in relation to pedestrian fatalities … and that's about people unnecessarily putting themselves in places where they shouldn't be, or taking risks that they shouldn't as pedestrians," Assistant Commissioner Keating said.
"The other one that's of concern, and this is a concern it seems every year, is the issue of motorcycle-related facilities.
"This year to date we've seen 41 people die on our roads in relation to motorcycle crashes."
Statistics provided by the Department Transport and Main Roads showed motorcycle fatalities were up 6.2 per cent this year compared with the previous five-year average, and pedestrian fatalities had soared 30 per cent.
The number of passengers being killed in road crashes was also on the rise this year, up 12.6 per cent on the five-year average.
Assistant Commissioner Keating said often that could be attributed to people not wearing seatbelts.
"I think it was around 24,000 people last year in Queensland who were detected not wearing their seatbelt. Those are the ones who are detected," he said.
"Now mandatory seatbelt-wearing has been in this state for decades so people who are not wearing seatbelts are doing it intentionally and deliberately and they're just taking completely unnecessary risks.
"In many cases overwhelmingly, we know if you wear your seatbelt you will be protected and your passengers will be protected if they wear their seatbelts as well."
He said police were very much aware of the dramatic increase in fatalities in the southeast region.
"What we've seen is all those high-risk activities occurring in that region to a high extent," Assistant Commissioner Keating said.
"People in the south-east would be aware of reports in relation to pedestrians being in places they're not meant to be, and there's been a number of motorcycle related fatalities in the high areas of the region.
"I'm not questioning motorcycle riding, I'm just asking people to do it safely."
