APRIL 25, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Rory Pope, pictured with partner Stacey Lee, survived a 30-metre plunge after he lost control of his car at Clarkefield. (Pictures: supplied)
Safety call on horror road A man who survived a horror crash in which his car “aquaplaned” off the edge of a steep 30-metre drop along Konagaderra Road in Clarkefield, is campaigning for more safety measures along the hazardous stretch of road. Rory Pope, of Romsey, said he was travelling to work at 7am on April 11 along the road, which runs between Romsey and Sunbury, after a heavy downpour when he lost control of his Holden stationwagon on the bend and careered over the edge. He told Star Weekly that the car flipped five times going down the embankment before coming to rest in Emu Creek at the bottom. Mr Pope’s partner Stacey Lee said his first
instinct was to find his mobile phone to call her. “He told me that when the car was tumbling he thought he was going to die,” Ms Lee said. “He said all he could see was my face and the faces of our two daughters in his mind – and he hung on for life.” She said that the couple wants Hume council to extend the guard rails that flank the nearby Emu Creek bridge crossing. “This road is dangerous on its own, but because there is no water drainage points, when it rains, the road is covered in a blanket of water,” she said. “There are no safety guard rails on the side of the road. There is a 30-metre cliff that drops straight down to the creek. Due to all the water on the road, he lost control and was flung
straight off the cliff. He rolled five times and ended up at the bottom wedged on a rock. “It’s a miracle that he walked away from it … but if there was a safety rail there, he would not have gone over. “Something needs to be done because someone could die.” Hume councillor Jack Medcraft said he would encourage the council to review the speed limit in the area. But he said installation of safety guards would depend on the amount of land available to support such a structure. Sunbury police Sergeant Tony Carroll described the stretch of road as notorious. He said drugs and alcohol were not a factor in this incident.
“There has been a number of accidents in that area,” Sergeant Carroll said. “It’s because there is a cutting there … the speed limit there is actually 25 kilometres an hour – that’s how severe the turn is. “I’ve been to a number of incidents where vehicles have collided into the wall of the cutting because they overturn at the bend … if you don’t know the area too well, people over-steer most of the time.” He said he was not confident that council would extend barriers because of the remote location of that stretch of road. Sergeant Carroll urged drivers to drive to the conditions on the road and said he would support a lowering of the speed limit as an extra safety measure.
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