By BRIDGET SCOTT AND LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A TRUCK accident which occurred due to Monday’s wild weather forced traffic to go into gridlock on the Monash Freeway this week.
A truck jack-knifed around 8am on Monday on the freeway, about 300 metres east of Hallam-Belgrave Road, after the driver used his brakes.
Senior Station Officer from Hallam CFA Stephen Keating attended the accident and said the truck had a large trailer on the back and managed to avoid colliding with any other vehicles.
“The driver himself did an amazing job, or had good fortune, to not hit any other vehicles,” he said.
The CFA officer said the truck slid off the road and into the centre median strip.
“He then hit the wire rope barrier which stopped him from hitting the incoming traffic, Mr Keating said.
The truck was empty at the time and Mr Keating said the emergency crews’ main concern at the time was leaking diesel fuel and oil which were heading straight for the drainage system.
“The Hallam Hazardous Material team attended the scene and were able to use equipment to stop any further fuel or oil getting into the stormwater drains,” he said.
“As well as that, we used other equipment to plug tears in the bottom of the tank to stem the flow of oil and diesel.”
All of this had to be done before crews could attempt to move the vehicle.
“It caused some real traffic issues, but we couldn’t have got it out of that position,” he said.
