Roads grief
POLICE are urging people to take care on the roads this holiday season, after two fatal accidents in three days on South Gippsland roads.
Banking up: police deal with mounting traffic at the Anderson roundabout near Phillip Island after Friday’s crash. Photo by Paul Zennaro via Twitter.
A man is dead following a single vehicle accident at Inverloch last Wednesday (December 19), and a woman died in a multi vehicle accident at San Remo last Friday.
As of December 22, Victoria’s road toll stood at 238 – 35 less than the corresponding day in 2012.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Emmett Dunne attended the incident in Inverloch.
“Please be careful on the roads. The big killers are alcohol, drugs, fatigue and speed so please look after yourselves and look after your friends, at this time in particular,” he said.
Sergeant Jason Hullick from the Bass Coast Highway Patrol also urged drivers to remain vigilant.
“Fatigue is a major killer on our roads and has been identified as one of the five fatal factors contributing to road trauma, along with drink/drug driving, speed, seatbelts not being worn or worn correctly and distraction offences such as mobile phone use,” he said.
A 28 year old man from Sandy Point, the driver and sole occupant, is believed to have been travelling west along Toorak Road in Inverloch when he lost control and crashed into an embankment around 3.50pm.
A/C Dunne said after two independent reports of a car being driven erratically in the area, two police units searched for the vehicle.
“They separately saw the car but did not pursue it. At a later time, another police unit was pulled across by civilians who had identified the location of the car,” he said.
A/C Dunne said an investigation would be conducted by the Major Collision Investigation Group (MCIG) on behalf of the Coroner.
“That investigation is being overseen by detectives from the Professional Standards Command (PSC) and the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission has been advised and is monitoring the investigation,” he said.
“Ultimately, there will be an inquest where all the issues associated with this incident will be thoroughly scrutinised.”
A/C Dunne confirmed there was no police pursuit at any stage before the incident.
“There was erratic driving and that is one of the issues that will be looked into by the MCIG during the course of their investigations,” he said.
“It is too early at this stage to say if alcohol was involved.”
Because police had been notified and had seen the vehicle before the crash, the incident is being treated as a death in police presence, which is normal protocol in incidents, A/C Dunne said.
The MCIG is also investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident that occurred in San Remo on Friday, December 20.
Police said about 3.50pm, a Ford utility driven by a 63 year old Phillip Island man was travelling west on Phillip Island Road.
Police said that vehicle veered into the path of oncoming traffic, initially side-swiping a Toyota Kluger driven by a 60 year old Warragul man, causing that vehicle to roll several times.
After colliding with the Kluger, the utility continued into the path of an oncoming Toyota Camry and collided head on with that car.
The 55 year old female driver of the Camry was trapped in her car for around 40 minutes and while ambulance crews worked on stabilising her, SES and CFA crews set about cutting her free from the wreckage.
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of emergency crews, she died at the scene.
The 63 year old driver of the utility was airlifted to The Alfred Hospital suffering serious leg and chest injuries.
The accident forced the closure of Phillip Island Road at the Anderson roundabout. The road remained impassable to traffic until around 9.30pm.
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Posted by Jacob De Kunder on Dec 24 2013. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
