Wellington Road Rowville: Lucky escape for men after pothole damages tyre

Two men had to jump over guard rails to avoid an oncoming car, after one stopped to change a busted tyre on a “terrible” road in Melbourne’s outer east.

Cr Nicole Seymour has detailed a crash where two men had to jump to safety over newly installed guard rails, after one had pulled over to change a flat tyre caused by a pothole. Picture: Cr Nicole Seymour Facebook

Two men were forced to jump to safety over new guard rails in Rowville to avoid an oncoming car, after one had stopped to repair a tyre damaged by a pothole.

The incident has led to calls for urgent upgrades to Wellington Rd, with a Knox councillor slamming its condition as “terrible bordering on negligent”.

Cr Nicole Seymour has revealed details about a “nasty” accident on the road on July 31, on the westbound lane between Napoleon Rd and Gearon Rd, where she says it’s lucky no was killed.

In a Facebook post, Cr Seymour said a man his early twenties was driving along the road when he hit a big pothole just outside the quarry.

She said it damaged his tyre and rim, and about 100m down the road, he pulled over to the side of the bike lane, got out and started to change his tyre.

It was dark and he didn’t have hazards so a good Samaritan, a Rowville resident who lives nearby, stopped behind him and put his hazard lights on.

“So worried for the guy’s safety was he that he did a u turn, parked 10 – 15 metres behind the guy changing his wheel, put his hazard lights on and went to encourage the young guy to hurry and move as he could see the impending danger,” Cr Seymour said.

“Within minutes, his hunch was correct. Another car travelling at 80kms smashed into the good Samaritan’s car, pushing it into the young guy’s car. Fortunately, there was split seconds of time, for the Samaritan and young guy to jump over the safety rails, protecting them from being crushed. By all accounts it was an absolute miracle.”

Cr Seymour slammed the condition of Wellington Rd, labelling the road condition as “terrible bordering on negligent”.

“It is great that these safety rails have been installed, and one life saved makes it worthwhile.

“However, when will VicRoads take the poor condition of Wellington Rd seriously? Does there need to be a fatality before someone does something about these dangerous pot holes?

“It is also a worry that it is not clear the space between the road and the guard rails is a bike lane not an emergency lane. It is narrow, and any car stopping there sticks out into the left lane. There need to be signs making it clear it is unsafe to stop in these locations.

“It is a relief no one was killed … and I am really appreciative of our Rowville good Samaritan going above and beyond in the spirit of community safety.

“I hope the driver who was hospitalised has not suffered life changing injuries and is able to have a speedy and full recovery.”

A Department of Transport spokesperson said it had repaired the pothole on Wellington Rd and thanked the community for reporting it.

The Department said two sections of the road had received funding for resurfacing and repairs in the 2022-23 financial year – between west of Taylors Lane and west of Clauscen Drive, and between Summit Rd and Cornish Rd, with the work to be done in the coming months.

To prevent head-on and run-off-road crashes, the Department is installing flexible safety barriers along the left-hand side and centre median on Wellington Rd, between EastLink and Summit Rd in Rowville.

There were 10 crashes recorded on Wellington Rd, between EastLink and Summit Rd, between July 2015 and June 2020, with six resulting in serious injury, and tragically one person lost their life.

The Department encouraged drivers to give advanced warning for oncoming motorists by putting on their hazard lights and making sure they have pulled over where it is safe to do so.

It will continue to monitor the stretch of road and address any safety and maintenance related issues as required.

Motorists are advised to phone [phone] or visit vicroads.vic.gov.au to report any hazardous conditions on the roads.