MAN SURVIVES AS CAR PLUMMETS INTO RAVINE:
Call for roadside barriers after ute makes death-defying descent
A MAN in his 60s is lucky to be alive after his car plunged backwards down a 30m ravine near Skenes Creek.
The driver emerged relatively unscathed after the terrifying fall and was taken to Geelong Hospital with only minor injuries following the accident at 8.40am yesterday.
Tyre marks on the road appeared to show the ute had crossed to the other side of the road, narrowly avoiding going straight over the edge of the ravine.
But, as the driver tried to get the ute back on the road, it appears to have clipped a tree, causing it to spin out and go over the edge backwards, crashing through 30m of bushland.
The ute came to rest on the bank of a creek bed at the bottom of the ravine with only a few dents despite the height of the fall.
Police, ambulance and the CFA were all called to attend the scene and, due to the steep descent, a highangle rescue team was dispatched to haul the man up the embankment.
One local woman told the Geelong Advertiser that the hairpin corners of Skenes Creek Rd were notorious for accidents.
“The road is particularly bad after it’s been raining, it gets very slippery,” she said.
“There should probably be barriers near these steep parts.”
Stuart Manson, who works at the Apollo Bay petrol station, echoed the calls for barriers along roads with steep sides.
“People have been calling for them for years,” he said.
“It’s interesting to see where the rails actually are and where they should be ... they don’t really match up.”
Mr Manson said he wasn’t surprised that yet another car had lost control and crashed into the ravine.
“That part of the road and a little bit further up Skenes Creek Rd near Broughton Access Rd are really bad,” he said. “When you see sirens go past you can pretty much tell where they’re headed.”