By JESSE GRAHAM
UPDATED:
A HEALESVILLE man was killed in a high-speed crash in Badger Creek in the early hours of Monday morning, after losing control of a stolen car on Don Road.
Police said that about 5am on Monday 20 June, the 39-year-old man was driving the red Holden Vectra down Don Road towards Chalet Road, when he lost control of the vehicle.
The car then crashed through a fence on the corner of Don and Chalet roads and into an embankment, hitting a tree and rolling.
The man was ejected from the car and died at the scene.
Eastern Region Traffic Advisor for Division Two Senior Sergeant Cam Hunt said the car was travelling at an “extremely high speed”, and had been stolen from a Healesville property earlier in the morning.
“The Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol have done some measurements and photographs, and that’s indicating to us that he’s lost control approximately 400 metres further up the road and gone through a fence … and into the valley, there,” Sen Sgt Hunt said.
“Unfortunately, the car’s hit a tree, rolled over and the single occupant hasn’t survived.”
At the scene, debris from the vehicle were scattered along the corner of Don and Chalet roads, with pieces of headlights and a P-plate found at the fence-line, some 30 metres away from the car.
Sen Sgt Hunt said it was “unlikely” that the driver was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
He said on Monday morning that a man was currently assisting police at Lilydale Police Station, but could not confirm reports that the stolen car had been involved in a minor crash earlier in the morning.
He urged anyone who may have seen the car in the early hours of Monday morning to call Lilydale police on 9739 2300.
As of 10am on Monday 20 June, the road toll stood at 139 – 17 more deaths than the same time last year.
