Police and emergency services responded to a serious two vehicle crash on Ridgley Highway at Highclere at approximately 8.25am on Saturday morning, Tasmania Police say.
The crash occurred when a north bound blue Nissan Pintara sedan lost control in black ice, crossing onto the incorrect side of the road and into the path of an oncoming green Mack semi-trailer. The driver of the semi-trailer, a 54-year-old Burnie man, took evasive action in both slowing the truck and moving it off the road as much as possible to avoid the Nissan. Police praised the driver of the truck for his quick thinking and professional driving and credit his actions, in significantly slowing the truck once he realised the crash was going to occur, with preventing a tragedy from occurring. The truck driver was not hurt as a result of the crash.
The driver of the Nissan, a 51-year-old female from Queensland, and the 79-year-old female passenger from Rosebery, were trapped in the vehicle for a short time. Both sustained injuries and were taken to the North West Regional Hospital at Burnie where they now remain in a stable condition.
Police would like to remind motorists of the importance of driving to the conditions. Black ice was the major contributing factor in this crash and motorists need to slow down and allow significantly more time when travelling on colder days, particularly at night and in the early morning before ice melts. Crashes such as this one are entirely avoidable if drivers take into consideration that roads can become icy and hazardous overnight during the colder months and if drivers modify their driving behaviour to suit the conditions they are driving in.
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