Driver arrested after M5 barrier crash: ‘I’m surprised I survived it'
A man who was arrested after allegedly driving the wrong way on the M5 and crashing his Volkswagen ute into a concrete barrier says he drove head on against cars travelling 90km/hr before attempting to cross the motorway.
NSW
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A man who allegedly drove the wrong way on the M5 and crashed his ute into a concrete barrier this morning was “trying to avoid tolls”.
Police say the 47-year-old entered the motorway through an exit off-ramp at Hammondville about 10.25. The driver then allegedly attempted to cross a median strip and enter eastbound traffic before his white Volkswagen utility became stuck.
Padstow: Ute driver Frank Mollica says he was trying to avoid paying a toll when he crashed into a barrier on the M5 this morning. He says he had taken "a bit of speed in the last two days, just at a party" and has now been arrested. Report on 7NEWS at 6pm. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/gOJb6cWTTW
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) March 23, 2019
The two left wheels were suspended in the air as the car sat perched on a concrete barrier.
In a video obtained by Channel 7, the driver said he entered the motorway four tollways ago in an attempt to avoid paying the fare.
“I’m surprised I survived it,” he said.
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The Georges Hall man told cameras that he was driving head on against other cars travelling 90km/hr before he turned his vehicle into the barrier.
“I don't know how I got up here, I was trying to jump it really,” he said.
He was arrested and taken to Bankstown Hospital for mandatory blood and urine tests and is expected to be charged with serious traffic offences pending an analysis of the tests.