A plea has been issued to road users to maintain their concentration and act with care on the roads following the tragic death of an 18-year-old man at Longlea on Tuesday.
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Acting Sergeant Lee Clayton from Bendigo Highway Patrol was among the emergency service workers who attended the crash scene on the McIvor Highway where the Bendigo teenager died when his dual cab utility collided with an oncoming truck.
Acting Sergeant Clayton said people should not think such a tragedy was not a possibility in their lives.
“No one’s exempt from this type of thing,” he said.
“It can happen to anyone, at any time.”
Acting Sergeant Clayton stressed that it was not always gross negligence but something as simple as a momentary lapse in concentration that could change someone’s life forever, and in the worst circumstances, end it.
The pain caused by road trauma was long-lasting, he said, for family, friends, witnesses, emergency services, and the wider community.
Related: Seeing pain on the road has a toll
Acting Sergeant Clayton said it was everyone’s responsibility as a road user to pay attention and concentrate at all times.
“A split second is the difference between changing your life and the lives of your loved ones forever,” he said.
By Wednesday afternoon, the day after the fatal crash, more than a dozen bouquets of flowers, a fishing lure and a whisky bottle lay at the site in tribute to the young man.
The exact cause of the crash is still yet to be determined, but police believe the young man’s ute crossed onto the wrong side of the road.
The driver of the truck escaped injury, but was taken to Bendigo Health.
He and witnesses to the crash were described by an officer at the scene as being “fairly shaken”.
The young man’s death brought the number of lives lost on Victoria’s roads in the new year to 11, as of Thursday afternoon.
He was the second person to die on central Victoria’s roads in 2018.
On the afternoon of January 6, a 37-year-old man was killed when the car in which he was a backseat passenger crashed into a telegraph pole on the corner of Forest and Urquhart Streets in Castlemaine.
Anyone who is affected by or witnesses road trauma can access free support and counselling from Road Trauma Support Services Victoria on 1300 367 797.
Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
