Wrong-way turn to tragedy
Emily Power, Mark Buttler and Shannon McRae
February 17, 2007 12:00am
A MAN escaped death in a horrific 200km/h Princes Freeway smash that killed his two mates yesterday only because it was his birthday.
Young father Paul Stuart, 31, and Damien Willey, 29, had no chance of survival when a teenage P-plater's car rocketed down the wrong side of the Princes Freeway and speared into their vehicle.
The third member of their regular car pool, who'd opted to drive his own car yesterday because he wanted to leave work early to celebrate his birthday, was driving behind them and watched, horror-struck, as the tragedy unfolded.
He was being counselled yesterday.
Police were investigating whether the teenage driver, from Point Cook, was drug or alcohol-affected or possibly on a suicide run.
The 19-year-old was cut from the wreckage of his Holden Berlina and flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he was last night in a critical condition with severe head, chest and abdominal injuries.
Mr Stuart, of Corio, and Mr Willey, of Waurn Ponds, were travelling to Melbourne when the Berlina cannoned into their Holden Statesman on the Maltby bypass, near Werribee, about 2.40am.
Police and witnesses said other terrified motorists had already cheated death, swerving to avoid the Berlina as it travelled in the wrong direction on the city-bound lanes of the freeway for almost 4km.
The vehicles collided at a combined 200km/h, the force of the impact fusing them together.
Mr Stuart and Mr Willey had been just minutes away from safely arriving at Costa Logistics in Derrimut, where they worked as forklift drivers.
The business's owner, Geelong Football Club president Frank Costa, said his staff had been devastated.
He said employees were being counselled and were rallying around the third member of the car pool, who was extremely traumatised after seeing the carnage unfold.
"He saw everything. He was driving right behind them," said Mr Costa.
"It's an unbelievable sadness. You wouldn't want too many days like this in your life. They were both very good fellows . . . highly regarded," he said.
Mr Costa said the pair were loyal employees. Mr Stuart had been with the company for 14 years, and Mr Willey for eight years.
"Their loss has shattered a close-knit team. It's a very sad place to be at the moment," he said.
Mr Stuart had been brimming with pride after the birth of his first son, Seth, three months ago. He also had a daughter, Clara, 8.
Mr Willey became engaged to partner Laura in October last year and the couple were planning to start a family. They had just built their dream home at Waurn Ponds.
Police believe the 19-year-old driver entered the freeway on the Forsyth Rd exit ramp and drove in the centre lane, in a straight line, at an estimated 100 km/h for almost 4km before slamming into the Statesman on a bend 1km from the Werribee exit.
After overtaking a truck from the in-bound right hand lane, the Statesman had nowhere to go when it was confronted by the oncoming Berlina.
Police said a 15m skid mark behind the pulverised Statesman indicated Mr Stuart had tried to take evasive action a split second before the fatal impact.
Werribee police have taken witness statements from drivers who dodged the white Holden Berlina.
Sgt Peter Bellion, of the major collision unit, said the two cars collided at a deadly combined 200km/h.
"Both vehicles were crushed by more than a metre from their original length," Sgt Bellion said.
He said it was extraordinary the 19-year-old had survived.
"We will be looking into whether the driver had been affected by substances such as alcohol or drugs," he said.
An airbag fitted to the Berlina had most likely saved the teen's life, Sgt Bellion said. The Statesman did not have airbags.
Paramedics said the occupants were "cocooned" in the wreckage.
Ambulance officer Alan Eade, who treated the unconscious 19-year-old at the scene, said rescue crews were shocked by the carnage.
"As far as vehicle damage and sheer impact goes, this was an incredible force," Mr Eade said.
"They basically morphed together because the two struck with such incredible force."
Country Fire Authority emergency crews had to help cut the casualties from their vehicles, Mr Eade said.
The accident blocked several lanes of the highway and caused long delays for several hours as Melbourne's in-bound commuter traffic was diverted through Werribee.
"Road users need to act responsibly every time they get behind the wheel," Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Noel Ashby said.
"By speeding, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, driving when tired, or by driving dangerously and irresponsibly, they risk not only their own lives but that of others."
Police are calling for anyone who saw the accident or a car travelling on the wrong side of the road to contact them.
The accident brings Victoria's annual road toll to 36, the same as at this time last year.
