Peter Kalbfell sustained serious spinal injuries in a road crash in outback Queensland in 2000. (ABC Wide Bay: James C Taylor)
The crash that nearly ended Peter Kalbfell's life happened on a long, deserted highway in outback Queensland.
"There is a lot of nothing out there, you know," he said.
In January 2000, Mr Kalbfell was driving back home to Alice Springs after a "whirlwind" Christmas holiday with family and friends in Maryborough, three hours north of Brisbane.
Peter Kalbfell is president and head coach of the Fraser Coasters Wheelchair Basketball Club. (ABC Wide Bay: James C Taylor)
It was a trip he and his then-girlfriend had made countless times before, which, he conceded, led them to "be a bit more complacent" about driving while fatigued.
With his girlfriend behind the wheel, Mr Kalbfell undid his seatbelt to get more comfortable.
Peter Kalbfell was injured in a serious crash near Kynuna in outback Queensland. (ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Police later told him the car had veered off the road and rolled seven or eight times, crushing him underneath.
The crash rendered him an incomplete quadriplegic: paralysed from the neck down except for minimal movement in his arms and legs.
Mr Kalbfell's girlfriend sustained minor injuries.
While the pair survived, a new report has identified an increasing number of fatal crashes on rural and regional roads.
An analysis by the Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) found 906 people died on roads outside the capital cities in 2025, a 10.5 per cent increase on 2024.
According to the ARSF report, 906 lives were lost on rural, regional and remote roads in 2025. (Supplied: Police Media)
The ARSF understands this to be the highest number of regional fatalities since 2020.
