Holiday road risk

By Monique Ebrington
INCREASED traffic conditions and a string of crashes in the Yarra Ranges has police urging motorists to take care on the roads over the holiday period.
While no time of year is suitable for loved ones to be involved in serious road incidents, Lilydale Police Sergeant Warren Heal says that crashes over the Christmas break can be particularly devastating to families.
“Any accident impacts many people. The flow-on effect of an accident means that the family and friends of those involved are also affected and all the more this time of year,” Sgt Heal said.
Three days before Christmas two Yarra Junction men were involved in a single vehicle incident along the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road. The pair, in their mid-20s, were travelling in a silver BMW east along the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road when, Police believe, the driver lost control on a right hand bend. Police believe the car veered onto the wrong side of the road before colliding with a tree and sliding down a steep embankment.
Although all seven airbags in the car were deployed, life threatening injuries and serious burns required the driver to be airlifted to The Alfred hospital and the passenger to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and later transferred to The Alfred. One of the men has since been discharged and the other is recovering at The Alfred and is in a stable condition.
Sgt Heal says the area of road the pair were driving along is hard to manoeuvre in any condition and should be driven with care.
“You have to go through a few small hills and bendy roads; it gets flat for a while before becoming a bit more undulating and windy. That road has hazards like all roads,” he said.
Drivers should take extra precaution over the holiday period Sgt Heal said. With an increase of drivers on the roads also comes increased risk.
“Traditionally Christmas is a time where we have a lot more accidents because there’s a lot more people on the road, like holiday makers and people visiting the Yarra Valley,” he said.