People living and working in Ironbark have voiced concerns about the behaviour of drivers at the intersection of Eaglehawk and Marong roads in the wake of a serious crash.
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On Thursday morning, a 68-year-old man suffered chest and leg injuries and was trapped in his vehicle for more than an hour after crashing into a power pole at the intersection.
While a medical episode was a factor in that crash, people familiar with the area say they see worrying behaviour from people behind the wheel.
Bendigo Complete Auto Care owner James Crockford said he regularly heard cars and trucks brake suddenly at the intersection.
He believes that some motorists rush to make it through before the lights change because of the safety camera, or stop abruptly out of fear of running a light, often causing drivers behind them to slam their brakes on.
Mr Crockford said he could not say if this intersection was any worse than others in Bendigo, but it saw a significant volume of traffic.
Nicola Reilly has lived near the intersection for six months and named speeding as another concern in the area, particularly at night.
“I think people just use it like a race track,” Mrs Reilly said.
People slowed down at the lights, she said, but the presence of the camera did not seem to deter them from driving fast.
She said she had also noticed that many people seemed to fail to look for pedestrians at the zebra crossing where vehicles turn left from Marong Road.
Children on their way to school use that crossing.
But Mick McCrann, acting senior sergeant at Bendigo Highway Patrol, said the intersection of the two roads was not significantly represented in crash data.
Acting Senior Sergeant McCrann attributed the lack of issues police dealt with at the intersection to the presence of the red light and speed camera.
He said police did not receive complaints about speeding on those roads.
But he said that because of traffic slowing down for people entering driveways and pulling over, some motorists might get frustrated and accelerate quickly when passing.