A motorist has been charged over a head-on crash in the contra flow lane in the Airport Tunnel, which claimed the life of a young woman six months ago.
The charges against the driver of the other car - a man, 35, from Bass Hill - include he was driving with an illicit drug in his system.
The fatally injured woman was Leidy Rincon, 29, a Columbian national, who was travelling to work with friends in a Honda CVR, which collided with a Ford Falcon about 5.40am on Thursday, February 6.
The Honda was travelling north in the contra flow lane in the southbound tunnel. The Falcon was in the same lane, heading south
Ms Rincon, a back seat passenger, died at the scene. Two fellow passengers sustained multiple injuries, while the man driving the Falcon was also injured.
A police statement said, "Following investigations by the Crash Investigation Unit, a 35-year-old man has been charged with negligent driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and drive vehicle with illicit drug present in blood".
The man was granted conditional bail to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, September 11.
The contra flow lane in the morning peak, which is designated by lights but has no physical barrier, was introduced when the M5 East opened in 2001.
Figures released by Transport for NSW earlier this year revealed, since 2014, there had been 49 crashes where at least one person was injured or killed along the stretch of General Holmes Drive from the M5 merge through the tunnel and then to where the contra flow lane merges back to the northbound traffic
They included two fatal crashes, 2 serious injury crashes, 22 moderate injury crashes, 12 minor / other injury crashes and one uncategorised injury crash.
