By Matt Dunn
FOSTER Police are investigating a fiery high speed crash at Yanakie on Saturday night, with three 15-year-old girls stealing a car and crashing it into a concrete pole.
The young Yarram driver lost control of the vehicle after reaching speeds of up to 160kmh. The trio was heading in a north-easterly direction along Foley Road.
Police said investigations were still proceeding “in relation to a potentially tragic incident in which three 15-year-old Yarram girls staying in the district borrowed a white Ford Laser sedan without the owner’s permission and were subsequently involved in a serious collision in Foley Road, Yanakie, at 7.25pm last Saturday evening”.
Police and ambulance members were frustrated by the crash, believing that the road safety message was not reaching the youngest and most vulnerable.
“When are young people going to get the message that driving a vehicle can be extremely dangerous and that it is even more risky when an inexperienced driver is travelling at ridiculous speeds?” Foster Police’s Sergeant Neil Coates said.
“Police and the public are sick and tired of this sort of irresponsible behaviour. Young people just don’t think of the grief they can bring to family and friends.
“Although they think they are bullet-proof, sadly, history has proven that this is not the case.”
Foster senior MICA paramedic John Barrie, who attended the accident, said it was a miracle the girls escaped from the crash.
“When we do get involved people are usually seriously hurt and these three girls are extremely lucky to be alive. When we pulled up and saw the state of the car, you ask yourself, ‘How are they alive?’
“The only thing that saved them was that they hit the pole straight on. If they had hit the pole side on it would have been another Mill Park.”
The 27 year ambulance service veteran said children needed to understand the risks associated with dangerous driving.
“They’ve just got to be educated and realise they’re not invincible. Parents need to reiterate to their children that they’re not invincible, and they need to know what they’re doing and where they’re going,” he said.
“Parents have to take a bit more responsibility too.”
After the vehicle hit the pole, it slewed through a fence and into a paddock, while the power pole dropped across Foley Road.
The rear seat passenger managed to get out of the vehicle and assisted the front seat passenger to exit too.
A passer-by stopped and assisted with removing the driver from the car, just as it began to smoulder. The car caught fully alight and was totally destroyed soon after all three girls were out of the vehicle. The fire was so hot that the engine block was left as a silver puddle on the ground.
Yanakie and Fish Creek CFA crews attended the scene, dousing the fire and directing traffic.
After the collision, two of the girls were airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
One, who was in a critical condition, was transferred directly from Foster football oval while the other, in a serious condition, was initially taken by ambulance to Leongatha Hospital before being transferred to Melbourne.
A spokesperson from the Royal Children’s Hospital said both girls were now in a stable condition.
The third girl was taken by road ambulance to the Latrobe Regional Hospital.
The crash put out power to the region for several hours.
One local said there had been a campaign to make the road safer, with a suggestion that white lines should be painted up the middle of it to stop motorists straying onto the wrong side of the road.
Winding through sand dunes, the road has a number of blind spots.
Leslie Smith from Black Cockatoo Cabins, which is situated on Foleys Road, said there were a “very nasty couple of bends” on the road.
