Emergency services rush to fiery crash on Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Rd in Balliang

A driver killed when his car hit a tree in a ghastly rural crash north west of Geelong has been identified.

The scene of a fatal car accident on Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Rd near Quakes Rd.

A driver killed when his car hit a tree in a ghastly rural crash north west of Geelong has been identified as a 47-year-old Ballan man.

The horrific collision occurred in Balliang on Tuesday, with police, paramedics and fire trucks all rushing to the scene.

The road was closed in both directions on Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Rd, between Murphys Rd and Quakes Rd for most of the day.

Leading Senior Constable Jody Clayton said police would prepare a report for the coroner after the man’s car crashed into a tree at about 9.15am.

The intersection of Quakes Rd is still blocked.

He died at the scene.

“The exact circumstances surrounding the crash are yet to be determined and investigations are ongoing,” she said.

A Country Fire Authority spokesman said seven units were called in support.

Detectives from the Major Collision Investigation Unit also attended and will investigate the exact circumstances of the smash in Balliang, about 35km north west of Geelong.

The areas is regarded as notoriously dangerous for motorists, with the nearby Bacchus Marsh Rd one of the region’s deadliest.

It’s believed the car veered off the road and hit a tree.

Two people were flown to hospital in July after a two vehicle collision on Bacchus Marsh Rd.

The driver of a hatchback, a 32-year-old Tarneit man, sustained life-threatening injuries and was rushed to the Alfred hospital in Melbourne, while the driver of the Hyundai sedan, a 45-year-old woman from Strathtulloh, was taken to Geelong.

Jamie Stomilovic, 28 was killed driving to work on the Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Rd in 2023 when a man, Shaun Duggan, failed to give way at the intersection of Reddens Rd.

He was jailed for eight months as a result of the tragedy.

Young Torquay mum, Sarah Tonkin, 37, was killed in a freak accident in 2019 when a 10kg tow bar was flicked up by a passing truck’s tyres into her path.

Her Hyundai sedan, carrying her eight-month-old son, Austin, then veered off the Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Rd at Balliang East, and rolled on to its side crashing into a tree.

Her baby miraculously survived.

The intersection at the Geelong Ring Road and Bacchus Marsh Rd is regarded as the worst for collisions, with eight crashes at the site since 2019.

Originally published as Emergency services rush to fiery crash on Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Rd in Balliang