Man’s arm severed in crash

By Callan Date
A CAR passenger had his arm severed below the shoulder in a horrific crash in Cranbourne West on Saturday night.
Police said a 2001 green Holden Clubsport was travelling along Duff Street at about 10.50pm when the car failed to negotiate a bend and slammed into a power pole.
The extreme force of the crash sheared off all the panels down one side of the vehicle and resulted in the front passenger, a 30-year-old man, losing his left arm below the shoulder.
He suffered other serious injuries in the crash and was airlifted to The Alfred hospital.
The driver of the vehicle, an unlicensed 33-year-old Seaford resident, was taken to the Royal Melbourne hospital with serious head injuries.
Casey Traffic Management Unit (TMU) Sergeant Pat McGavigan said the driver got out of the car by himself but started to convulse soon after.
“An unlicensed driver behaving in this way is a recipe for disaster,” Sgt McGavigan said.
Local emergency services attended the crash and helped in the rescue response and collision clean-up.
The crash caused overhead power lines to fall down, resulting in a power black-out in the immediate vicinity.
Sgt McGavigan said the driver’s welfare was currently the main concern and he was yet to be interviewed in relation to the collision.
Both men remain in a serious condition in hospital.
He said the last fortnight on Casey roads had been a terrible period, with two fatalities and many other major injuries occurring in several separate collisions.
“People have got to wake up to themselves,” Sgt McGavigan said.
“Tragedy can occur at anytime when driving a car,” he said.
Sgt McGavigan pleaded for all road-users, including drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to be vigilant and make sure they were constantly behaving in a responsible manner.
“We were doing so well up until a fortnight ago. We come out and praise the public and then something like this happens,” he said.