The death of a second person from a multi-vehicle collision at North Geelong last month has prompted police to call for witnesses.
The man’s death contributed to a tragic year on Thompson Rd so far, with four people losing their lives and several others injured along the strip since February.
The latest crash victim died in hospital last week as investigators continued probing the 4 July smash, police said.
The investigators believed that the four vehicles involved in the crash collided while travelling south along Thompson Rd near Sharon Crt about 11.20am.
“The female passenger of one of the vehicles, a 58-year-old Norlane woman, was transported to hospital where she later died,” police said.
“The male driver of the same vehicle, a 64-year-old Norlane West man, was also taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died on 3 August.”
The single occupants of the other vehicles, a truck and van, were transported to hospital with minor injuries for observation.
At least one witnesses was helping with the investigation, police said.
“The driver of a truck, a 50-year-old Belmont man, stopped at the scene and has been assisting police with their enquiries.
“Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are investigating, which remains ongoing.”
Police urged anyone with information or who witnessed the collision or had dash-cam footage to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at crimestoppers.com.au.
The 64-year-old’s death lifted Victoria’s road toll to 178 so far this year, nearly 50 per cent higher than the 120 fatalities recorded at the same time in 2018. The spike in deaths has frustrated authorities, particularly the Traffic Accident Commission as it promotes a Towards Zero campaign to prevent road fatalities.
Thomson Rd has become Geelong’s leading location for road deaths this year, with two other fatalities earlier in 2019.
In May an 88-year-old North Geelong man died in a head-on smash on Thomson Rd. The female driver of the other vehicle was hospitalised with injuries.
In February a male pedestrian aged 81 died when a car collided with him as he tried to cross the road’s intersection with Galway Ave.
The pedestrian’s death prompted calls for authorities to improve safety on Thomson Rd.
Retailers along the strip backed measures such as a 50km/h speed limits and speed humps, noting the prevalence of speeding drivers along the road.
“There’s young hoons – you hear them screaming down here,” said cafe owner Mark Butcher.
