By Luke Voogt
A man was fighting for his life in hospital yesterday after two crashes in 10 minutes caused traffic chaos at either end of Geelong.
The 24-year-old man remained in a critical but stable condition at The Alfred Hospital yesterday afternoon after veering off Forest Road, Lara, about 8.20am.
Highway Patrol Leading Senior Constable Gavin Duncan said the man appeared to have suffered a medical episode before the crash.
“There are no elements of excess speed or anything like that – he was a young man going work,” he said.
“Witness recounted that he looked like he was pulling over beforehand.”
The man was heading towards Lara before he veered off the left-hand side of the road and drove over a wire fence, Ld Sen Const Duncan said.
“He would have run over the middle of that for about 50m.”
The car then hit a power pole, before crossing back over Forest Road and hitting a fence on the other side, Ld Sen Const Duncan said.
The car came to a halt about 200m north of the intersection of Forest and Heales roads.
Ld Sen Const Duncan said it was lucky that no one was driving in path of the out-of-control car, especially as the crash occurred during peak hour.
He said the man held an interstate licence and that police had notified his family, but was unable to say if he was a Geelong resident.
Traffic was backed up almost 200m in each direction when police arrived. Police closed Forest Road between Heales and Canterbury roads, diverting traffic as paramedics treated the man.
An ambulance helicopter airlifted the man in a critical condition to The Alfred Hospital, arriving about 11am.
Meanwhile, a two-car crash less than ten minutes later caused traffic mayhem on Settlement Road at Belmont, with traffic backed up for 2.5km.
At 8.26am a blue Ford Falcon crashed into the rear of another car about 30m north of the intersection of Settlement and Torquay roads.
The crash mangled the front end of the Falcon, trapping the 23-year-old male driver.
SES and CFA crews used the Jaws of Life to remove the side of the car to free the man.
The man suffered head injuries from the crash and paramedics treated him onsite, before taking him to Geelong hospital in a stable condition.
Barwon South SES’s Scott Clarke warned motorists to drive to the conditions and be particularly vigilant in peak hour conditions.
The crashes come four days after a 27-year-old Little River man died in a crash on Mill Road, Lara, on Saturday.
