General News
15 February, 2024
Police investigate Majorca Road crash
Travelling at dangerously high speeds, a Maryborough man had a narrow brush with death on Tuesday after his car veered off the road — with the crash causing extensive damage to the vehicle. Emergency services attended the scene at around 2.30 pm...
Travelling at dangerously high speeds, a Maryborough man had a narrow brush with death on Tuesday after his car veered off the road — with the crash causing extensive damage to the vehicle.
Emergency services attended the scene at around 2.30 pm on Majorca Road, with the callout coming soon after the storm settled.
A 44-year-old local man was travelling towards Maryborough on the 100 kilometre per hour road when he lost control of his vehicle, police said.
According to a witness on the scene, the driver was allegedly going at around 200 km/h before he crashed.
He was driving a silver Holden Calais which was found nearly destroyed with the engine thrown more than 10 metres away from the sedan during the collision.
Central Goldfields Highway Patrol Sergeant Paul Martin said the man was driving erratically without considering the state of the road.
“To be driving like that in those conditions is simply ludicrous,” he said.
“It beggars belief that someone would drive in that manner when we’ve got trees down and debris on the roads.”
Police are investigating the exact circumstances surrounding the incident and anyone with information is being encouraged to come forward.
“It is evident from the scene and the level of damage that it was a very high speed [accident] and it appears that the safety features in the car have certainly helped the driver,” Sgt Martin said.
“We’re still working out what was exactly going on but we know that he overtook a number of vehicles before reaching this location.
“He has been tested for drugs and alcohol but that’ll be pending some further results — the driver has also sustained some unknown injuries and will undergo further blood tests [at the hospital].
“In the meantime, we’re appealing for any other motorists that may have been overtaken by this vehicle to contact us.”
The crash was one of many incidents on Tuesday that kept local brigades, SES units and police busy.
“I think it’s unfortunate because it was a totally preventable collision and it occurred in the middle of a storm event, when emergency services in the area were already very stretched,” Sgt Martin said.
“It’s frustrating because we had other people that needed assistance and we would have liked to [direct more resources] towards them.
“All of it happened in the space of 15 to 20 minutes when there were multiple trees and power lines coming down — we thought the car crash was related to the storm at first but it wasn’t, it was just a result of [reckless] driving.”
Anyone who witnessed the collision on Tuesday, has dashcam footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
