TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
Another life lost as wait continues for Bacchus Marsh road upgrade
THE latest fatal crash on one of the region’s deadliest roads has reignited calls to fast track safety works. A female passenger was killed on Bacchus Marsh Rd, near Lara yesterday morning, when the car rolled.
ANOTHER fatal crash on one of the region’s deadliest roads has reignited calls to fast track safety works that are due in September.
A female passenger was killed on Bacchus Marsh Rd, Lara, yesterday morning after a car she was travelling in is believed to have crossed double lines where it clipped a truck and rolled.
The male driver of the car was flown to hospital, while the truck driver was uninjured.
The road was closed for more than nine hours in both directions from 7.30am, as the woman’s body remained trapped in the wreckage.
According to VicRoads, six people have died in five years on the notorious Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Rd.
Five of the fatalities occurred when a car crossed the road’s centre line, and a further 32 people have been seriously injured, with head-on and run- off road crashes the most common types of crashes.
But for families of victims, the impact is far more devastating than a statistic.
The death of father of four Jarrod Brideson in a horror smash in February sparked a campaign to bring forward a $45 million upgrade to install wire rope barriers on both sides and down the centre of the road.
But six months on, VicRoads’ $1 billion statewide package of upgrades to improve safety on country roads has not yet made its way to the troubled stretch. Work on the “significant safety upgrade” will start in September.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Luke Donnellan expressed sympathies for the victim’s family, but it appears the works will not be brought forward despite the tragedy.
Geelong Advertiser readers took to social media to express their longstanding concerns about the “death trap” and called for urgent widening works and overtaking lanes.
“It’s so narrow,” one woman wrote. “I’ve lived off Bacchus Marsh Rd and seen so many near misses and know of too many fatalities over the years of people I know. So sad.
“When will these intercity highways (no longer a country small town road) be made to the attention of road authorities to do something about it?”
Anyone with information or who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.