The contentious wire rope barriers have been credited with preventing a serious crash on the Calder Highway on Monday.
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A single-vehicle towing a caravan lost control and veered into the median strip of the highway near Harcourt in the early evening.
Castlemaine police Sergeant Mick Peckham said the new wire rope safety barriers stopped the vehicle and caravan from going onto the other side of the highway.
The two occupants in the vehicle were uninjured, but one of the car’s axles was entangled on the wire ropes for almost three hours.
Read more: Wire ropes, bad roads protest planned
One southbound lane of the highway was blocked between the Midland Highway and Fogartys Gap Road – about one kilometre north of the Harcourt turnoff – until around 8pm on Monday as tow truck drivers unsuccessfully tried to free the trapped car.
VicRoads attended the scene to release tension in the wire ropes and the vehicles were eventually removed.
“If the pay off is we've got to spend a little extra time extricating a car and we've avoided the vehicle going across the other side of the highway, then we've probably had a win,” Sergeant Peckham said.
It comes as the Transport Accident Commission launched a state-wide campaign detailing how the barriers will save lives on the roads, which features testimonials from two Victorians who have avoided serious crashes because of the barriers.
The barriers have been criticised by other emergency services, including the CFA, who suggested the lack of gaps in the new safety measures were allowing bushfires to develop unnecessarily.
Other road users, including motorcyclists, believe the barriers act as a ‘cheese shredder’, with some organising protests against the state government’s decision to install them.
The TAC said allowances will be made for emergency service vehicles on narrow roads which are being fitted with wire barriers.
EARLIER Emergency services are at the scene of a single-vehicle crash on the Calder Highway near Harcourt.
Castlemaine Police confirmed there were no injuries but the southbound lane of the highway is blocked between the intersection of the Midland Highway and Fogartys Gap Road, about one kilometre north of the Harcourt turnoff.
Police expect the road to be blocked until 6.30pm and are urging motorists to avoid the area.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed it had not been called to the scene.
More to come.
