Tragic end to day out

A day out with friends ended in tragedy for a group of teenagers involved in a fatal crash at Walhalla on Sunday afternoon.

A 19-year-old Drouin man died and a 19-yearold Warragul man is fighting for his life after a tragic crash that unfolded before a group of friends who had been to Walhalla for a day out.

The fatal crash occurred at about 4.15pm on the Walhalla Rd.

Police said four teenagers were travelling in a Nissan Patrol in a convoy of three cars after a day trip to Walhalla.

Investigators were told the car was travelling along Walhalla Rd, about 300 metres from the town, when the driver failed to navigate a sharp right hand bend.

Police said the vehicle left the road, crashing down a steep embankment, overturning and coming to rest on its roof.

Police said the section of road was extremely winding with a steep vertical drop on the south side.

Major Collision Unit detectives were at the scene yesterday investigating the circumstances of the collision.

Police said an 18-year-old Ripplebrook man in the front seat and an 18-year-old Bunyip woman in the back seat were able to get out of the crashed vehicle. Both suffered non life threatening injuries.

SES and CFA arrived at the scene to free the two men.

The driver was airlifted to The Alfred Hospital in a critical condition. The back seat passenger died at the scene.

The fatality has reignited calls for safety barriers along the road. Baw Baw Shire mayor and Walhalla resident Michael Leaney said he was angry calls for safety barriers five years ago have not been heard.

He said a 2017 collision at the same location where a vehicle also rolled down the embankment had prompted calls to install roadside barriers.

Cr Leaney said if a risk safety assessment of the site was undertaken it would clearly show the consequences of a crash were catastrophic.

“There is no half way measure. It has just been luck we haven’t had a fatality before this. In 2017 luck was on the young man’s side.

“There are probably about six locations along Walhalla Rd, not every bend, but there are some where barriers are needed because if there is a failing, the result is catastrophic,” he said.

Cr Leaney said while the road was not a council owned road, he said council had a responsibility to advocate for its community.

He said he had already contacted council’s infrastructure director Cohen van der Velde, urging him to advocate to Regional Roads Victoria to have barriers installed.

“The community expects their councillors to step up. Just because it’s not our road is not good enough,” he said.