By Casey Neill
Warburton Highway users are calling for a safety boost following a serious crash in Seville East.
The Wednesday 19 January collision was the third that Sandy Ison had been involved in since 2010 at the same spot and in the same circumstances.
Her daughter, Kaylee Ison, said this was the worst.
“She was trapped,” she said.
“The driver’s side door wouldn’t open so they had to cut the roof off and get her out.”
Sandy, 50, suffered a cut to her scalp that required eight staples, a fractured rib, lots of bruising, a few other cuts and bad whiplash.
She spent three days in hospital.
Sandy had been returning to her Joyce Road home about 4.30pm.
“She was waiting for the oncoming traffic to go and then someone came up behind her,” Kaylee said.
“The first person went around her.”
It’s alleged another driver then crashed into Sandy’s car and pushed it into the roadside embankment.
“Each of our neighbours have also had similar accidents in this spot, although Mum’s has been the worst so far,” Kaylee said.
“We have petitioned and continually harassed VicRoads to do something, but have had no positive response.”
She’d like to see traffic slowed from the current 90 kilometre limit and a dedicated turning lane.
“Something needs to happen before someone gets more seriously injured,” she said.
Mail readers reached out on our Facebook page to express their concerns about the Warburton Highway intersections with the Sunnyside, Joyce, Stuart and Peters roads.
Linda said the intersections were on top of a crest with limited vision.
Joel Supple said he’d been fighting for safety improvements for four years.
“My son was starting high school and he has to cross that highway every day of the week,” he told the Mail.
“So what I did four years ago, was I went to council and I had all these stats that said that there’d been multiple crashes.
He said the council vowed to lobby VicRoads, and encouraged him to start a petition.
Mr Supple said he got the impression that nothing would change unless there was a fatal crash.
“I don’t think speed’s the major factor there,” he said.
“What we were asking for was turning lane.
“You’re just looking in your rear vision mirror looking to see if they’ve seen that you’ve stopped.
“I’ve been there 18 years on Bridgewater Road and there’s been numerous accidents turning to Peters Road and up near Sunnyside.”
He’d also like to see a traffic island mid-highway to make crossing safer for pedestrians.
“A girl was hit at the next bus stop up at Woori Yallock,” he said.
“It was lucky it was in a 60km zone.
“An island would be safer than them running to the middle of the highway, standing in the middle and then running over the next bit.”
VicRoads’ metro south east movement and safety manager Sasha Yarwood said he welcomed community feedback on the roads they relied on every day.
“We’re looking into potential options for safety improvements at these intersections on Warburton Highway,” he said.
VicRoads advised that advanced warning signs were in place to remind drivers of turning traffic onto Warburton Highway near these intersections.
Excluding the crash on 9 January, in the past five years there had been one serious injury crash at the intersection of Warburton Highway and Sunnyside Road and one at the intersection of Warburton Highway and Peters Road.
