Palpable relief mixed with the drizzling rain on the Foster Fish Creek Road on Monday afternoon. Dozens of emergency service workers gathered to debrief after helping 12 people to safety from the Yarram Vline service that plunged 2.5 metres down an embankment just past the turn off to O’Grady’s Ridge Road at 11.55am on 6 October.
Miraculously no one was seriously hurt in the accident, which saw local CFA crews from Fish Creek and Foster stabilising the bus with ropes before undertaking a high-angle rescue. Minor injuries were treated by paramedics at the scene, but most passengers milling around the crash site appeared shell-shocked rather than hurt after the near miss.
Acting Sgt Maligeorgos from the Wonthaggi Police said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, though there was speculation among onlookers that a wheel may have popped and the brakes slipped on the muddy verges, made even more precipitous by almost 25mm of rain the previous evening.
The Acting Sgt warned motorists to take care. “People travelling should be vigilant when weather worsens and monitor road conditions,” he said.
Recently announced Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) star ratings of Victorian roads reveal several of the Prom Coast’s roads are among the worst rated for safety in the state - including the Fish Creek-Foster Road, which gets just 1.3 stars out of five - among the lowest scores of any road in Victoria. Cara Schultz
