Barriers plea

By Tania Martin
POLICE will conduct DNA testing to identify a woman who died in a fiery car crash in Ferny Creek last week.
It is believed the driver was a 22-year-old from Selby.
The accident happened shortly after 10.45am last Thursday on Mt Dandenong Tourist Road, 300 metres west of Churchill Drive in Ferny Creek.
Police believe the car veered off the road while heading towards Ferntree Gully and hit a tree.
The car then rolled down an embankment and landed in a residential driveway, before exploding. Paramedics, police, and CFA units attended the scene.
Belgrave police Sergeant Graeme Moore said police believed the victim was the owner of the vehicle.
He said DNA samples had been taken from the parents of the vehicle owner.
The crash has renewed calls for guard rails along that section of Mt Dandenong Tourist Road.
Resident Lynette Bright and her daughter escaped unscathed when the car landed in the driveway of their house.
The pair were getting ready to leave the house when the accident happened.
“I was just waiting for my daughter to get her bag. I was taking her to work,” Mrs Bright said. “It was a shock. It happened so quickly.”
Mrs Bright raced out to see what had happened, while her daughter rang 000.
She did not realise someone was still in the car until the fire was extinguished.
Her husband, Ed, has renewed a 15-year fight for guard rails. “We feel for the young girl involved and her devastated family; it’s a needless death as far as we are concerned,” he said.
Mr Bright said drivers and his own family faced Russian roulette everyday on that section of the road.
The Mail has been reporting on the danger since 1993, when the Brights first approached VicRoads.
Since then, numerous calls for guard rails have failed.
Mr Bright said plans for the project were in place but on hold because of a lack of funding. He said it had remained a low priority for VicRoads because no deaths had been recorded. “It’s pure luck no-one was killed before now,” Mr Bright said.
The Mail contacted VicRoads for comment about why the dangerous stretch was not a high priority.
Acting regional director Graham Clarke confirmed there had been six crashes along the section of the road between Hughes Street and Fernbrook Road since June last year.
Mr Clarke said the safety of that section of the road would be assessed as part of the fatality inspection.
But he said any proposals for improvements would have to be prioritised against other projects across Victoria.