Accident alley

by EMMA SUN
A WOMAN had to be cut out of her car when it slid off a notorious stretch of road in Belgrave South last Monday.
The crash was one of two that day at the same spot on Belgrave-Hallam Road between the two Colby Road intersections and follows a string of accidents over the past years.
In the first incident, which occurred at about 11am, a 41-year-old Bruthen woman lost control of her BMW sedan and hit the bottom part of a house.
Sergeant Michael Stuebner from the Belgrave Police Station said the house was not damaged and the woman walked away relatively uninjured.
“She went over the embankment, through the front yard of property and came to a stop at the front of the house,” he said.
“She was trapped for a short time and had to be cut out of the car.
“She had some shoulder and neck injuries but she was OK apart from that.”
The woman was taken to The Alfred hospital for a check-up.
The second incident happened about 6.20pm when a 34-year-old man lost control of his Ford van on the wet road and rolled into a ditch.
The Kurunjang man was not injured.
The bend at Belgrave-Hallam Road has caused a lot of concern for police, particularly during wetter weather, which has prompted an ongoing call by police and nearby residents for a road upgrade.
“We’ve put in a lot of reports to VicRoads in relation to it and all they’ve done at this stage, due to funding, is improve the signage, which hasn’t slowed down the accident rate at all,” Sgt Stuebner said.
“We’ve been pushing for a road upgrade in relation to the road surface and improve the road and until that happens, we’re going to continue to have more collisions in the area.”
The deadly patch of road has claimed one life in the past five years.
The Mail reported on six incidents that happened within the span of a week in March, four of which were single vehicle accidents.
Two accidents occurred one after the other in December last year in which a driver lost control at the bend and another car veered off the road as police attended the scene.
A police car was also the victim in November last year and was among four vehicles to crash on the same day at the same stretch of road.
Police were responding to an accident when another driver lost control going down the hill and collided with their car.
“It’s been like that for years and it’s been the same problem for years,” Sgt Stuebner said.
“At this stage, we just have to deal with it as it happens.”
The Mail contacted VicRoads but did not receive a response before going to print.