Truck driver ‘very lucky’ to be alive after horror Malmsbury smash

A truck driver is lucky to be alive after a horror smash on the Calder Freeway this morning.

The truck cabin he was in was crushed by a trailer after he smashed head-on into a concrete pylon at 100km/h, before plummeting 20 metres over bridge supports and down into a creek at Malmsbury.

Rescue crews worked for more than two hours to free the driver.

Leading Senior Constable Peter Dyer from Bendigo Highway Patrol says he’s astounded the driver survived.

“It’s something I haven’t seen in my 29 years of road policing, for a vehicle to be crushed in the way that was and for someone to be conscious, and alert, and after several hours to be pulled out with relatively minor injuries,” he told Heidi Murphy, filling in for Tom Elliott.

“He’s very lucky.”

The driver, a man in his 30s, was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with lower body injuries and a neck fracture.

He is in a stable condition.

All out-bound lanes on the Calder Freeway are closed from Malmsbury East Road in Malmsbury to the Pyrenees Highway in Elphinstone.

Motorists have been warned the freeway may remain closed well into the night.

“I think they’re going to be working through the night to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still closed at midnight,” Senior Constable Dyer said.

Police do not believe speed or fatigue were factors in the crash.

Drivers are advised to travel through Malmsbury and Taradale and return to the Calder Freeway via the Pyrenees Highway.

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