Paramedics, police and fire crews were called out to the scene about 4.45pm.

Sergeant Greg Gentry of Bendigo police said the car, which was driving towards Eaglehawk, hit a parked car containing no occupants and pushed it into a power pole.

"Witnesses said the car was approaching vehicles which were stopped before it suddenly veered off the road into a parked car," he said. 

Sergeant Gentry said speed was not a factor but police were investigating. 

"It's possibly a mechanical failure," he said.

Along with the male driver, there were three other occupants in the car, all aged between five and nine.

After initially assessing the driver, who got the all clear, paramedics were called back to assess one of the children in the car, who later complained to police about a bump on the head, Sergeant Gentry said.

Eaglehawk fire captain Hayden Allen said two Eaglehawk fire trucks and one Bendigo fire truck were called out to the scene after initial reports the crash had cause a fire in the car.

"We were paged about a car being on fire but once on scene, it was deemed to just be steam from the car," he said.