A Hamilton couple on their way to the Port Fairy Folk Festival were trapped in their car for three hours after it ran off the road and hit a tree just five kilometres from their destination.
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The woman driver, 66, lost control on a windy section of the Port Fairy Hamilton Road, sliding down an embankment and hitting a tree about 10.50am.
Senior Constable Peter Hunter, of the Warrnambool Highway Patrol Unit, said the position of the car on the embankment made it "tricky and complicated" to extract the couple from the vehicle, which was severely crushed.
He said the couple were very fortunate given how damaged the car was.
"By looking at the car you would have thought it would be a double fatal," he said.
Two helicopters were called to the scene.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullens said the woman was flown to The Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition with leg and arm injuries.
Senior Constable Hunter said the 70 year old passenger was flown to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, but he has no serious injuries.
He said it was a great team effort by all the emergency services - ambulance, fire brigade, police and SES - working together to free the couple.
The driver was cut free from the vehicle after about two hours and 45 minutes. The passenger was freed shortly after.
The road was closed for about six hours until the couple could be freed and the vehicle cleared from the scene.
Senior Constable Hunter said police do not believe speed was a factor in the accident.
He called for drivers to take care on the roads during the long weekend.
