Forest Hill: Drunk driver crashes into police van on Springvale Rd

Drunk drivers tend to try and avoid the police, but this one drove straight into them in Forest Hill, preventing them from attending an urgent job.

A drunk driver crashed into a police van in Forest Hill, causing major damage.

Forest Hill police were rushing to an urgent call-out when a drunk driver took out their police van.

The police were hurrying north up Springvale Rd, Forest Hill with the van’s lights and siren on when a Ford Ranger slammed into the van, causing “major damage” to both vehicles.

Nunawading highway patrol Sergeant Paul Egan said police had gone through a red light at the intersection of Springvale and Canterbury roads, with all other cars on the road having paused to make way for the emergency vehicle.

The collision occurred at the intersection of Springvale and Canterbury roads, Forest Hill.

But a 56-year-old Box Hill North man kept driving along Canterbury Rd until he was brought to a stop when his car collided with the police van about 6.15am on Sunday, September 1

“He should have been able to stop,” Sgt Egan said.

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The man was taken back to Forest Hill police station, where he allegedly returned a blood-alcohol content reading of .054.

No one was injured in the crash.

Both the police van and the four-wheel-drive had to be towed from the scene, while the police never made it to help out at the urgent job in Doncaster.

Sgt Egan said the driver was fined for failing to give way to an emergency vehicle and for drink driving.

Sgt Egan said the man would have to foot the bill to repair the police van.