Horror day on Victoria’s roads leaves four dead, including man who died in fiery Reservoir crash
Four people have died in separate road crashes in Victoria today, including a teenage cyclist and a driver who performed a burnout before hitting a parked truck, killing himself and badly injuring his passenger.
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Four people have been killed in separate crashes today in what has been a horror day on Victoria’s roads.
Among them was a driver who was performing a burnout moments before he ploughed his high-powered Holden Commodore into a parked truck, killing himself and critically injuring his passenger in Reservoir about 3am.
The driver, aged in his 30s, died instantly when the car hit the back of the truck on Radford Rd and burst into flames.
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The male passenger, in his 20s, was pulled from the burning car by workers from a manufacturing business and was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital where he remained last night in intensive care.
A colleague of the rescuers said the car was on fire when the workers ran over to help.
“They heard the crash and went over and yeah they said there were flames at the back,” the staff member said.
“They managed to get the passenger out.
“They’ve done the right thing to go and help. They’re definitely in a bit of shock, seeing that.”
Two other motorists also died in separate crashes in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
One driver was killed when their car hit an oncoming vehicle in Narre Warren shortly before 3.30pm.
Police believe the driver, who has not yet been formally identified, was trying to turn into Berwick Rd off Wellington Rd when the crash happened.
The driver of the second vehicle, an 18-year-old Belgrave man, and his passenger, a 19-year-old Menzies Creek woman, were both taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
A motorcyclist died after colliding with a silver SUV on Heatherton Rd in Springvale South about 4.45pm.
The rider died on the way to hospital.
And a teenage cyclist was killed after he was hit by a truck on the Henty Highway in Portland about 5.30pm.
The 18-year-old Portland man died at the scene and police said the male driver of the truck, also from Portland, was assisting with their inquiries.
The deaths bring the number of lives lost on Victorian roads to 51 this year, compared to 34 at the same time in 2018.
A trail of skid marks leading up to the Reservoir crash site could be seen stretching more than 200m back.
Acting Senior Sergeant Matt Williams said excessive speed was a clear factor and the investigation would look at whether the driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Radford Road, a predominantly industrial strip, has a 50km/h speed limit.
Mechanical repair business owner Nigel Christiansen said the road had a history of “hooning” and had been used in the past for skid meetups.
“It’s bad. It’s always full of rubber,” he said.
“You used to get the northern skids down here, 30 or 40 cars, they’d be all over social media filming themselves doing burnouts.”
Transport worker Anthony Davis described Radford Rd as “notorious” for speeding.
He said workers were fed up with “hoons” racing down the street day and night.
“It’s happening way too often it was a matter of time before there was a crash like this,” he said.
Witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage are being urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersvic.com.au.
josh.fagan@news.com.au