AN elderly Gundowring man was trapped in 35-degree heat for almost an hour yesterday after his vehicle rolled on the Hume Freeway.

SES crews held up an umbrella for shade and carefully removed the 78-year-old man from the Nissan Pathfinder.

Police said it appeared as though the driver of a Ford Focus had failed to give way at the Old Barnawartha Road intersection and collided with a 4WD that was travelling north on the freeway towards Wodonga at 2.30pm.

Wendy Williamson said she had been travelling on the freeway at the time of the accident.

“They collided closer to the intersection, but he (the 4WD) ended up further down the road, he would have rolled five or six times,” she said.

“It was still rolling when I pulled my car over.

“I went and raced up and tried to open the door because the car was on its side, but then some other men came.

“I was thinking ‘that car is going to stop in a minute, it’s going to stop’ but it didn’t.”

Two women, who were passengers in the 4WD, were helped from the vehicle soon after the crash.

Ambulance Victoria Wodonga team manager Mike Fuery said two were taken to Albury hospital and two were taken to Wodonga hospital.

“We have four casualties, but all the people have mostly sustained soft tissue injuries; so muscular aches, strains and some lacerations but nothing life threatening at this stage,” Mr Fuery said.

“The gentleman in the car, we are treating him very carefully because of his age and because the car is on its side there is the potential for him to have fractures in his neck, so we are just being very careful with the way we handle him.”

Northbound traffic was rerouted via Old Barnawartha Road to Moloney Drive for about two hours.

The notorious intersection has a long history of accidents including a collision involving a train and a car in 2010 and car accidents in 2004 and 2007.

Acting Sgt Mal Burdett from Wodonga highway patrol reminded drivers to be vigilant.

“We’ve highlighted to locals that this intersection is one that you really need to pay attention to and we ask them to pay respect to the type of intersection this is,” Sgt Burdett said.

Any witnesses to the collision have been asked to contact Wodonga police on (02) 6049 2600 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Upper Lachlan Council will try to have deleted a move to extend the upgrading of the Nerriga – Tarago Road (MR 92) towards Braidwood, rather than to the Hume Highway near Gunning.

Currently the $95 million upgrade of the Nowra – Nerriga Road is becoming referred to as “the road to nowhere” because it does not proceed to link with the Hume Highway or any other connection to the State hinterland.

Shoalhaven and Palerang (formerly Tallaganda) Councils have been working for many years on providing a sealed freight link from Nowra to the Hume Highway.

This was seen as a simple route for trucks as large as B-Doubles.

The State Government and Shoalhaven Council embarked on providing Stage 1 of the project from Nowra and Nerriga.

This was completed in 2010 – and there the project has stalled, hence the “road to nowhere” tag.

But the original plan has been thrown into doubt by a decision by the South East Australian Transport Strategy Inc (SEATS) to recommend the road from Tarago extend south to Braidwood, rather than north to the Hume Highway.

The Councils most closely involved in the project, all members of SEATS, are Shoalhaven, Palerang, Upper Lachlan, Yass Valley and Goulburn Mulwaree.

They banded together to have a study made on the best route for extending the Nowra – Nerriga – Tarago road north to Gunning or south to Braidwood.

Upper Lachlan’s representative on SEATS Cr. James Wheelwright voted against the recommendation, as did the Eurobodalla representative.

In a report to Upper Lachlan’s December meeting Director of Works Mr. Phil Newham said documents provided by Shoalhaven showed that the route to the Hume Highway to Gunning, via Collector, offered significant fuel and time savings for traffic.

This proposal also provided for the possibility of constructing the project in several stages, as the Hume Highway could be accessed via Goulburn once the Nerriga – Tarago section was completed.

But Palerang Shire asked that alternative routes be considered, as they feared the additional traffic created by the link to Tarago would unrealistically increase maintenance costs on the Nerriga – Braidwood road, currently unsealed.

Because of the lack of information to form a view on the possible use by haulage operators on the new road, consultants could only rely on projected population growth figures to predict what the growth of freight demand might be on the different routes.

“As most of the area surrounding the route is sparsely populated growth figures failed to demonstrate that the road was likely to be used by large volumes of traffic – particularly on the northern route,” Mr. Newham said.

And Governments would not provide funding unless there was a high Benefit Cost Ratio.

He reported that the SEATS recommendation to extend the road from Tarago to Braidwood was moved by Goulburn Mulwaree representative Cr. Kirk and jointly seconded by Yass Valley and Queanbeyan City representatives.

Mr. Newham said that the cost to extend the improvements from Nerriga to Tarago would be around $300 million.

There was currently no heavy traffic use of the road to Nowra.

Officers have uncovered two heavy vehicles with non–compliant equipment on the Hume Highway, south of Sydney.

About 1pm on Saturday 3 January 2015, motorists reported a b-double weaving between lanes on the Hume Highway, Goulburn.

Officers stopped the heavy vehicle and directed it to the Marulan Heavy Vehicle Safety Station.

It was found to be carrying a load of mixed dangerous goods including: sulphuric acid,

hydrochloric acid and nitrous oxide, phosphorous acid, aerosol cans, in addition to tractor tyres.

The vehicle’s load was not secured and inspectors found smooth tyres and a detached brake slack adjustor on the A-trailer, making brakes on its second axle ineffective. There was also no personal protection equipment in the cabin.

The driver was issued two defect notices and infringement notices for: dangerous good breach – no personal protection equipment ($260); substantial load restraint breach ($512); and, drive heavy vehicle used to carry dangerous goods not comply with code – roadworthiness ($400).

Meanwhile, about 11.45am yesterday (Wednesday 7 January 2015), police were patrolling the Hume Highway, Pheasants Nest, when they stopped a b-double travelling south for an inspection.

Officers allege the heavy vehicle had a number of unsecured items on board while the inspection found the speed limiter to be non-compliant, enabling an override of the system to allow the vehicle to travel above the 100km/h speed limit.

Infringements were issued by police for a non-compliant speed limiter and substantial risk load restraint.

Checks on the 42-year-old Queensland driver revealed he was wanted for driving matters. He was arrested and taken to Goulburn Police Station and is due to appear in Goulburn Local Court today (Thursday 8 January 2015).

Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Assistant Commissioner John Hartley, said police will continue to focus on all vehicle categories.

“Heavy vehicle compliance and safety is just one element in a broad range of road safety initiatives police are focusing on.

“Any vehicle, particular those of a significant weight, that are non-compliant put other road users at serious risk when they are at high speeds or stop suddenly in traffic.

“We make no excuses for stopping these drivers and if necessary can ensure they are taken off the road for a period of time. We will continue to work with our partner agencies to ensure road users are not at risk,” Assistant Commissioner Hartley said.

Roads and Maritime Services General Manager Compliance Operations, Paul Endycott, said this non-compliance was particularly concerning given it occurred during one of the busiest times of the year on our roads.

“It was only the good work of Police and Roads and Maritime officers which prevented what could have been a terrible tragedy.

“Roads and Maritime officers recently had training in enforcement under dangerous goods transport law. The programme focused on coordination of multi-agency activities relating to dangerous goods and heavy vehicle regulation. This was a great example of the reason we carry out this sort of training.

“Consignors loaders and others in the Chain of Responsibility need to take more ownership in this. Directors of these companies can and will be held personally liable for these offences.

“It sends a strong message to the heavy vehicle industry there are more of us out there ensuring improved compliance of heavy vehicles carrying dangerous goods than ever before,” Mr Endycott said.

Police are appealing for witnesses as they continue their investigation into a fight in West Albury today.

About 12.45am (Thursday 8 January 2015), police were called to the vicinity of Jacaranda Street and Waratah Crescent, after reports of a fight between a group of men.

A 19-year-old man was found with stab wounds to his chest while a 30-year-old man suffered a head injury.

Both men were taken to Albury Base Hospital; police have been told the injuries are not life-threatening.

Police attached to Albury Local Area Command attended and a crime scene established.

An 18-year-old man was arrested at the scene and is expected to be charged with affray, being armed with intent to commit indictable offence and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Police are intending to speak with the injured men once they are well enough.

Inquiries are continuing

A man escaped unscathed after BASE jumping off a Hume Highway bridge over Allens Creek in Douglas Park at the weekend.

He was spotted launching himself off Moolgun Creek Bridge, about 60 metres from the ground, on Saturday afternoon.

Within seconds a red, white and black parachute was seen floating to the ground.

The man reportedly disappeared quickly after landing.

BASE jumping is illegal in Australia so many jumpers go to Europe to practise their jumps and improve their skills.

Two Australians have died since August last year while base jumping overseas.