Fatality on Euroa-Mansfield Road

A MAN has died in a single vehicle crash on the Euroa-Mansfield Road just a month after Gooram CFA captain Michael Stubbe said “there are going to be more fatalities” on this "dangerous" stretch of the road. Emergency services were called to reports a red Mitsubishi ute had driven down a cliff on Euroa-Mansfield Road, near Ridge Road, last Sunday night at about 10.35pm. Two men – the driver and a passenger – were taken to hospital with injuries, while the other male passenger was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition and later pronounced deceased. An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said one of the surviving men, believed to be in his 50s, was transported to Goulburn Valley Health (GVH) in a serious condition with upper and lower body injuries, and the other man, believed to be in his 40s, was transported to the same hospital with minor injuries. A GVH spokesperson said both men were admitted in a stable condition. Mr Stubbe previously told The Euroa Gazette that CFA are preparing a submission to VicRoads to have the speed limit lowered from 100kph to 60kph on a winding stretch of Euroa-Mansfield Road where there have been several car accidents this year. He said the crash on the Sunday night, which required a high angle rescue to retrieve the individuals from a steep incline, was similar to other recent crashes he had seen on the same stretch of road. Gooram CFA, Euroa SES, Alexandra SES, Maryville SES and Fire Rescue Victoria Wangaratta’s technical rescue team assisted with the rescue operation. Euroa SES unit commander Georgie Broussard said it was in “the exact same location” as the last crash the unit was called to on Euroa-Mansfield Road. The crash is being investigated by police, but it is believed to have occurred while the driver was travelling north, down a hill. “I still firmly believe that extending the 60kph limit further down the road on the northbound side of the road would help a lot,” Mr Stubbe said. He said the CFA’s submission to VicRoads, which has the support of Strathbogie Shire Council, Ambulance Victoria and Euroa police, is still in progress. The dangerous stretch of northbound road spans from Ridge Road to the Gooram Falls carpark and follows a change in speed limit from 60kph to 100kph. The submission to VicRoads will argue the 60kph speed limit ends too early and should be extended to cover this stretch. “The majority of these accidents that I’ve been to recently have all been not from our area – they’re not locals, they don’t know the roads,” Mr Stubbe said. He said when drivers unfamiliar with the road see the speed limit has changed back to 100kph, they speed up, not realising the road is “not suitable” for this speed. “They come up from Merton, which is a much straighter road – up from there to the top of the hill – and then it says ‘end 60’, so people speed up, assuming it’s as good as it was, but it’s not, it’s far more winding with a steep drop off the side,” Mr Stubbe said.