UPDATE 8.30pm: The death has sparked renewed warnings from Bendigo police about the dangers of trying to avoid a collision with a kangaroo.
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Senior Sergeant Mark Edwards of the Bendigo Highway Patrol said motorists should resist the urge to turn the wheel.
“We don’t recommend swerving off the road to avoid things like kangaroos,” he said.
“Especially on the roads we’ve got in central Victoria that are quite often lined with trees and solid fixed objects.”
Senior Sergeant Edwards said the best course of action was to brake in a straight line.
“Braking to try and wash the speed off is a hell of a lot better than swerving and hitting something like a tree,” he said.
“The average responsible motorist has insurance and I haven’t seen an insurance claim rejected yet for hitting a kangaroo.”
Senior Sergeant Edwards said the incident was just the latest in a string of crashes in the region involving kangaroos.
“I think we’ve had four that have involved a fatality in central Victoria, there was one not long ago down at Macedon Ranges, we had the one (yesterday) and we’ve had two others over the last 12 months,” he said.
“They’re big numbers but then you’ve got all the other collisions that we don’t report so much, the non-injury and injury collisions that don’t get the airspace that fatals do.”
Senior Sergeant Edwards said kangaroos were a fact of life in central Victoria.
“We like to live in the bush, well guess what, that’s part of the bush too, so we’re going to have to live with them and we need to drive accordingly,” he said.
“The message we want to get out to people is don’t swerve, because once you get those wheels into gravel and your vehicle starts to shift sideways you’re in a world of hurt.”
UPDATE 1.20pm: The Calder Highway near Glenalbyn has been re-opened after a fatal accident early this morning.
The road was closed for almost eight hours following the crash, which claimed the life of a motorist in his 30s.
UPDATE 9.50am: A part of the Calder Highway remains closed after an accident claimed the life of a motorist this morning.
A man in his 30s swerved to miss a kangaroo and crashed into a tree. He was killed in the accident.
EARLIER: A man has been killed in a Glenalbyn crash this morning.
Emergency services are on the scene of a single car crash in Glenalbyn where a man in his 30s has lost his life.
Police believe the Ford sedan was travelling towards Inglewood on the Calder Highway when it swerved to miss a kangaroo and hit a tree at about 5.30am.
The 39-year-old female driver has been taken to Bendigo hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The male front seat passenger, who is yet to be formally identified, was trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene.
According to VicRoads the Glenalbyn-Mt Korong Rd is currently closed and emergency services are still on the scene.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek an alternative route.
Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.