Masons Rd crash neighbour says fatal car accident could have been prevented if council had listened to pleas to fix road

A WOMAN who lives on the “worst road in Whittlesea” where a motorist was killed on Wednesday says the driver would still be alive if the council had listened to requests to fix the road.

Tina Marshall (centre) with other residents (from left) John Dagher, Nick Bozinovski, John Baird and Kim Filmersay on the deadly Masons Rd. Picture: Stuart Milligan

A WOMAN who lives on the Mernda road where a motorist was killed after losing control of his van and crashing into a tree says the tragedy comes as no surprise.

Emergency services were called to the scene of crash on Masons Rd about 5pm on Wednesday night.

The driver, who is yet to be identified, died at the scene and three male passengers were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Tina Marshall, who was in her home, about 200m from the accident said she did not hear the crash, but the long stretch of road was “the worst road in Whittlesea”.

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“There have been multiple accidents on this road,” she said.

“You take your life in your hands when you turn into driveways on this road.”

The fatality comes on the back of months of lobbying by Ms Marshall and other residents of the road to have Whittlesea Council fix potholes and grading on the thoroughfare.

In March, Whittlesea Council city transport and presentation director Nick Mann said upgrading the road was “not a priority”.

“As far as the council is aware, there have been no accidents nor is there the volume of traffic or safety concerns to justify prioritising an upgrade of Masons Rd ahead of other roads that urgently need upgrading to improve road safety,” he said.

Locals have been asking for Masons Rd to be upgraded for some time. Picture: Stuart Milligan

When asked if the road would be improved following the fatality Mr Mann said the council had already begun grading the road more often prior to the accident because a “high number” of vehicles did use it.

“Due to high number of motorists using this road, we ensure it is graded frequently; every six to eight weeks and have reduced the speed limit to 50km/h.”

Ms Marshall said residents on the street, some who tried to save the crash victim, were “angry” because they believed the crash could have been prevented.

While the road had a 50km/h speed limit, many motorists travelled nearly twice that on it and grading attempts had been laughable.

In the wake of the tragedy residents would continue to call on the council to improve the road and install speed bumps and slow points, she said.