Alarm over dangerous near-misses on CityLink freeways as motorists get out of stopped vehicles

Roadside cameras have captured scores of near-misses on CityLink, with motorists getting out of their cars on freeways and just narrowly avoiding being hit by passing traffic.

Motorists are being warned about the dangers of getting out of their cars on Melbourne’s CityLink freeways as frightening new footage emerges of near-misses, as vehicles avoid drivers on the busy roads.

Toll road operator Transurban said its roadside cameras had captured many cases of drivers emerging from their cars because of breakdown or accident, only to be nearly hit by passing traffic.

Liz Waller, Transurban’s acting general manager of health, safety and environment, described the near-misses as “really alarming’’.

Drivers are putting themselves at risk by getting out of their cars.

“People are not aware of the risk that they are putting themselves at,’’ Ms Waller said.

Any stopped vehicle will be spotted by CityLink’s 500 cameras on the network and incident response crews will respond within five minutes, she said.

“We want people to get home safely every day.’’

In one incident captured by CCTV, a driver wanders into a busy traffic lane, and is just missed by a passing truck which is forced to swerved into the next lane to avoid impact.

The advice to motorists is to pull into an emergency stopping lane or breakdown bay if possible, turn on hazard lights, keep the seatbelt on or, if possible, exit the vehicle from the side furthest from moving traffic, and then wait for an emergency response crew.

Drivers are being urged to stay in their vehicles is they break down.

“Losing a load, running out of fuel or finding yourself in a nose-to-tail can be stressful — but

we’re urging drivers to not put themselves at risk by getting out of their vehicles and trying

to move in or next to live traffic,’’ Ms Waller said.

“Standing next to a motorway or dodging live traffic is dangerous for everyone.’’

Transurban has reported that Melbourne traffic volumes have increased by 2.3 per cent in the past six months.