A 75-YEAR-OLD man has died and a woman was seriously injured in a head-on crash on the Dunolly-Maryborough Road at Bet Bet yesterday.
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Police believe the pair, both local residents, were en route to Dunolly when their car drifted onto the wrong side of the road and hit a vehicle driving to Maryborough.
The sole occupant of that car, a man in his 60s, was taken to Maryborough District Health Service by ambulance with minor injuries and was treated for shock.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said the woman, aged in her 40s, was flown to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition with suspected spinal injuries.
Both cars had a dog travelling in them, and only one, in the vehicle in which the man died, survived the crash.
Police expect it will take several days to determine the cause of the smash.
“There is a distinct lack of skid marks so it makes it hard,” Bendigo highway patrol Senior Sergeant Paul Gardiner said.
“It could be medical (but) the investigation will go on for a few days yet.”
Senior Sergeant Gardiner said central Victorians needed to take extra care on country roads with plus-100 speed limits, with this year’s road toll already at four.
“People need to understand even through they’re familiar with the area they’re driving in, they still can be at risk so they really have to take extra care,” he said.
“Unfortunately country roads are being over-represented in our collisions.
“There are too many of them occurring and we really need to establish why they are occurring so we can try to prevent them.”