The young pair collided head-on on Skenes Road near the Port Fairy Golf Club about 1.30pm Saturday.

Bystanders rushed to the scene, with one member of the public administering first aid to trapped driver John Hulin.

Port Fairy Sergeant Mick Wolfe said the 20-year-old’s utility was travelling west when it was hit by an east-bound sedan.

“The car travelling east towards Warrnambool seems to have veered off a bit into a grass verge and seems to have over-corrected, gone across the road and hit the vehicle travelling west,” he said.

A 19-year-old Port Fairy woman, whose name has not been released, was taken to South West Healthcare in Warrnambool with back injuries and a suspected broken arm.

The hospital was yesterday unable to provide an update on her condition.

John is the son of Warrnambool City councillor Peter Hulin, who was meeting residents with colleague Jennifer Lowe when he received a frantic telephone call.

“As soon as it happened (John) must have stopped; he grabbed his phone and rang me,” Cr Hulin said.

“I was listening to people racing over to him — he was trapped for an hour-and-a-half before they got him out.”

The former Warrnambool youth mayor yesterday underwent a four-hour operation to pin his leg which was broken in two places.

“He’ll recover; what the long-term injuries are we don’t know at this point,” Cr Hulin said.

“There were bits of bone throughout his leg and holes where pieces of the car had gone into it. The accelerator pedal was up at the top of the seat.”

John was given the red Ford XR6 ute by his father, who ensured it had air bags in case of an accident.

Sergeant Wolfe said police would continue to investigate the cause of the accident and planned to interview the Port Fairy driver.

“You’ve got to drive for yourself and you’ve got to drive for other vehicles too,” he said.

“It’s not a bad bit of road. There’s a bit of a bend where it occurred, but there was plenty of vision around.”

Cr Hulin said his son, who studies commerce at Deakin University and works part-time at Port Fairy coffee shop Slitti’s, was set to travel overseas later this year.

“His 21st is coming up in July — my wife and I were sending him on a trek to Mount Everest base camp,” he said.

The trip is now in doubt, but Cr Hulin said he was simply grateful the accident had not resulted in a fatality.