Police believe roadside mowing may be linked to a multi-vehicle crash which has claimed the life of a woman after a truck collided with a Jeep on a major Victorian freeway.
The incident occurred at about 8.40am on Monday morning on the Princes Freeway, just before the Bona Vista Rd exit in Darnum, in Victoria’s West Gippsland region.
Police say a truck initially collided with a bronze Jeep, which resulted in a three-car-pileup with a white Mitsubishi and a silver Mazda.
The driver of the Jeep – a 32-year-old Warragul woman – was flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries and her passenger, a 30-year-old woman, died at the scene. A 14-year-old girl in the back of the car was also flown to hospital with serious injuries.
As crash investigation detectives work to unravel the series of events before the fatal collision between a truck and three cars, one Detective said roadside mowing may be linked to the crash.
Major Collision Unit Detective Sergeant Daryll Out said there was a “bank-up” of traffic prior to the truck, due to roadside mowing which was occurring in the right-hand lane.
“There was a bit of a bank-up of traffic that was caused as a result of the cars merging into one lane,” he said.
“Up ahead there was a tractor mowing the grass on the right-hand side to traffic. (There was a) vehicle with a sign telling everyone to merge into the left-hand lane.”
Police believe the truck then struck the Jeep.
“They were either stopped or moving very slowly, then the truck driver, for whatever reason, has unfortunately struck the last vehicle in the line of cars,” he said.
“The mowing that was occurring in the right-hand lane, or off the right-hand lane, had the road signage vehicles travelling behind it to make everyone merge into the left-hand lane and the traffic had banked up.”
A 21-year-old boy, who was driving the Mazda, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the driver and occupant of the Mitsubishi was assessed at the scene by paramedics.
No charges have been laid. Victorian police say the 61-year-old truck driver from Trafalgar is assisting police with inquiries.
According to Victoria Police, 134 people have died on the state’s roads this year, significantly more than the 96 deaths which were recorded at the same time last year.