Head-on smash

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
FIVE people, including a couple in their 80s, have survived a head-on collision on a notoriously dangerous bend in Launching Place.
The couple were trapped for half an hour while emergency crews cut the doors and roof from their Mitsubishi during the rescue after the smash at noon on Friday.
Emergency workers held a blue tarpaulin over the vehicle to protect the occupants from the rain while Wandin CFA Rescue crews cut open the vehicle.
Three people from a four-wheel drive, which had spun around on impact and landed on its side, were able to climb from the vehicle despite serious injuries. Paramedics from Yarra Junction were first on the scene and called in the air ambulance to transport the most seriously injured patients.
The pilot was forced to land in the Launch Fuel carpark as close to the scene as possible.
The crash left ladders, a hose, what was a bag of concrete and other debris strewn across Warburton Highway 100 metres west of the Launch Fuel service station.
A 30-year-old man, the front passenger of the Nissan, had serious facial fractures and was placed into an induced coma.
He was taken by air ambulance to The Alfred hospital in a serious condition.
The 22-year-old driver from Preston had a suspected head injury, while the 51-year-old back seat passenger had bruising and a cut to his shin and a cut lip.
Both were taken to Maroondah Hospital in a stable condition.
The driver of the Mitsubishi, an 84-year-old man from Mitcham, suffered chest injuries and was taken by road to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.
His 79-year-old wife had bruising and pain to her chest and was taken to The Alfred hospital in a stable condition.
Stunned motorists stuck at either end of the crash scene were soon able to move on, although local workers watching the rescue unfold were not surprised. One man rolled his eyes and said “this corner is so dangerous there’s at least one accident a month that’s not reported”.
The collision occurred when a black Nissan Pathfinder four-wheel-drive traveling towards the city collided head on into a pearl white Mitsubishi Verada sedan on Warburton Highway.
Traffic was re-directed from Allsops Road and Lusatia Park Drive for several hours while rescue crews worked to make the highway safe again.
Warburton police Senior Constable Don Trice said the driver in the car behind the Nissan believed it was traveling the correct speed limit.
“He lost control at the bend, and this corner has a bad collision history,” Sen Const Trice said.
“People need to slow down when it’s wet.”
Hillcrest CFA captain Rick Shaw and Wandin CFA Rescue captain Peter Polovinka echoed the sentiment. “I just wish people would drive to the conditions and slow down when it’s raining,” Mr Polovinka said.