The six occupants of a car that slammed into a tree were lucky to escape injury after their vehicle was run off the road by another vehicle overtaking a truck near Cobden on Saturday.
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Senior Constable Tony McLachlan, of Terang police, said the occupants of the car were from Warrnambool and were headed to Melbourne when they had to take evasive action to avoid a ute that was overtaking a B-Double headed in the opposite direction.
The car was forced to swerve to the left-hand side of the road where it lost control and spun around, coming to rest on the right-hand side of the road facing the opposite direction.
The passenger-side of the car took the brunt of the impact when it hit the tree about 10 to 15 metres metres off the side of road.
He said the tree that the car hit stopped it from slipping further down the hill which had a 20 to 25-metre drop-off before it flattens out into a farm paddock.
“They were very lucky there was no other vehicles coming the other way,” Senior Constable McLachlan said.
“They are very lucky.
“No injuries at all.”
The accident happened on the Cobden-Stoneyford Road, about 5 kilometres from Cobden near Shenfields Lane, between 10.30am and 11am.
Police are now looking for a grey or charcoal Hilux ute, which has a distinctive truck sign on the windscreen, after it failed to stop after the accident.
The crashed vehicle was undriveable, with damage to the wheels, tyres, undercarriage and passenger-side door.
It had to be towed from the scene.
The car’s occupants were taken to Camperdown railway station so they could catch a train.
