Hampton Park resident Eric Bleile has endured four cars crashing into his Pound Road home this year and says he is living in fear.By Alison Noonan
LIFE has become a terrifying waiting game for Hampton Park resident Eric Bleile.
His heart races at the sound of screeching tyres, his hands shake just sitting in his lounge room watching television and he can’t sleep at night.
The elderly pensioner says he lives in fear that another car will plough through his Pound Road home, this time with life threatening consequences.
Mr Bleile said four cars had lost control and careered onto his property this year, not to mention the countless cars that have left tyre marks on his nature strip after coming through the notorious Hallam Road and Pound Road intersection.
He said the most recent occurred about 2am on Sunday morning when he was woken by a thunderous crash at his bedroom wall.
“I was asleep in bed when I heard screeching tyres and this great smash,” he said. “I jumped out of bed and a car had crashed into my front bedroom wall.”
Mr Bleile said the female driver and her two passengers were lucky to escape injury but claimed this latest experience has scarred him for life.
“I am a nervous wreck now, I jump at every little noise.
“It was only August that a car crashed into my lounge room wall and a month before that that a car hit my front tree.
“I can’t take it any more. I am at my wits’ end,” he said.
Mr Bleile said he had made numerous requests to VicRoads to install a guardrail at the front of his property but was told that a minimum property length of 30 metres was required.
“They said my house didn’t meet the requirements but if they don’t do something it will just keep happening.
“How many more accidents will it take for them to put a guard rail in? Do they want somebody to die before they do something?
“The best bet for a little bit of safety is to put a guard rail in, regardless of whether there is 30 metres or not,” he said.
Mr Bleile said VicRoads installed a guard rail at the front of his property years ago but removed it when traffic lights became operational at the intersection in 2002.
He said VicRoads’s proposal to install right turn arrows off Hallam Road onto Pound Road would not alleviate the problem of speeding drivers losing control on the bend.
“It has been worse since they installed the lights. Sure, the traffic flow is better but the accidents have become more frequent.
“A VicRoads representative visited my house this week but still maintains that a guard rail cannot be installed in case the driver of a car that crashes is injured by the rail. It is ridiculous.
“I am living in fear. This is something I shouldn’t have to put up with at my age,” he said.
VicRoads failed to respond to requests for comment by the News by the time of going to press.
Cranbourne police are investigating the incident.
