By Gabriella Payne and Shelby Brooks
A man in his 70s has been taken to hospital following a crash on Healesville-Kooweerup Road early this morning.
It comes just days after VicRoads announced the speed limit would be reduced along the dangerous stretch of road to 80km/h from Monday 17 May.
The elderly man was trapped in his car after it and a ute collided just before 6.30am Monday 10 May, emergency services said.
Shayne Honey, the Pakenham SES media officer, said that volunteers from the Pakenham road rescue unit (from both the Pakenham SES and Nar Nar Goon CFA) used the jaws of life to help free the man from the sedan.
Both doors on the drivers side were removed in the rescue operation, as well as the B pillar, and with the help of Ambulance Victoria the team were able to extricate the man safely.
According to Mr Honey, the elderly driver had been trapped in the vehicle for about 45 minutes before he was freed at 7.15am.
A spokesperson from Ambulance Victoria confirmed that the man in his 70s had been taken to The Alfred in a stable condition, with what appeared to be upper body injuries.
The elderly patient was the only one hospitalised in the incident, and the other driver’s condition remains unknown at this stage.
Currently 90km/h, the stretch of road between Rossiter Road in Kooweerup to Greenhills Road in Pakenham will have new signage erected overnight on Sunday 16 May, reducing the limit by 10km/h.
“Following a number of recent incidents, the new 80km/h speed limit is being implemented to improve safety for all drivers while planning for more permanent safety measures along Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road is underway,” a statement released by VicRoads read.
“The new 80km/h speed limit will increase journey times by approximately one minute.
“As a community, we should never value shaving a couple of minutes off our journey over potentially losing a life or causing a life-changing injury.”
Approximately 15,000 vehicles travel on the road every day.
Within the five-year period leading up to 11 February 2021, there were 36 crashes along this section of road; tragically two of these crashes resulted in fatalities and 14 have resulted in serious injuries.
Facebook users have had mixed reactions to the news of the speed reduction.
