A lucky escape

By Kath Gannaway
POLICE investigations are continuing into a high impact collision between a semi-trailer and a Mitsubishi 4WD at Coldstream on Wednesday 9 June.
Sergeant John Morgan, head of Yarra Ranges Traffic Management Unit (TMU), told the Mail the drivers of both vehicles, a Hoppers Crossing man, 37, in the 4WD and a Jamieson man, 52, in the truck, were lucky to escape with their lives, but suffered serious injuries.
Sgt Morgan said the 4WD was travelling towards Lilydale on the Maroondah Highway around 2pm when about 400 metres from the Warburton/Maroondah highways intersection, it veered to the right and into the path of the truck travelling in the opposite direction.
“When crews got there, the prime mover was completely engulfed in flames; somehow the driver managed to get out of the cabin and get away,” Sgt Morgan said.
He said the Hoppers Crossing man, amazingly, also walked away.
“I would have thought, looking at the way the whole cabin was crushed, that he would have been trapped but apparently he stepped out of the vehicle,” Sgt Morgan said.
He said police are making no assumptions about the cause of the crash with further investigations and interviews yet to be carried out.
None-the-less, he said, it added to a sudden spike in serious-injury collisions in May, raising police concern.
“We have been doing really well (in Yarra Ranges) with serious injury collisions and fatalities down compared with the same time last year,” Sgt Morgan said.
Yarra Ranges has had three fatalities compared with nine at the same time last year, and a drop in serious injury collisions of about 30 per cent. “All of a sudden, in May we had 20 serious injury collisions; whether it’s weather-related, or something else, we don’t know, but we are again asking people to drive according to the weather conditions – slow down, increase the hang-back and make sure your brakes and tyres are in good condition.”
Police Service Area manager for Yarra Ranges, Inspector Richard Brown, endorsed Sgt Morgan’s call for a change of pace on the roads.
“We’re coming into the snow season, which will see both an increase of traffic through the Yarra Valley area and more police on the roads to enforce the road laws and ensure safety on the roads,” he said.
Insp Brown said fatalities were significantly down in Yarra Ranges with noticeable improvement in driver behaviour on the roads.
“People need to slow down, be more patient with their driving and drive to the conditions,” he said.