MCIU Detective Inspector Craig McEvoy speaks on a triple fatality west of Ballarat - The Courier - November 11, 2025 - video Dailymotion

The Courier

MCIU Detective Inspector Craig McEvoy speaks on a triple fatality west of Ballarat, involving a child and his parents. Video by Bryan Hoadley

Transcript

00:01We're at the scene of a fatal collision today where unfortunately three people have died.

00:05What we do know is the collisions occurred this morning around 9.30am at the intersection of Eurabine and Stretham Road

00:13and the intersection with Mount William Roads in Stonely.

00:18Investigations only in its early stages at this point in time with major collision investigators rolling out from Melbourne to get to the scene.

00:24At this point in time what we can establish is that there were three generations of family

00:30in a vehicle that was travelling in a westerly direction towards the intersection

00:34where a B-double truck, Unladen, has been travelling in a southern direction towards the intersection.

00:41What we do know is the car appears to have failed to stop at the stop sign

00:45travelling directly into the intersection into the path of the truck where the truck has T-boned the vehicle.

00:51That's caused the car to spin several times on its wheels before coming to rest on its passenger side.

00:59Unfortunately as I said three people have lost their lives being a young child, a male child,

01:05two adults being a female aged 31, a male aged 41 and there's been one surviving

01:13female who's been conveyed to the Alfred Hospital with injuries.

01:16We believe at this point in time that he's three generations from the one vehicle.

01:21So really really sad circumstances.

01:24The truck driver has been 100% cooperative with police.

01:28He's provided an account and he's assisting police with further inquiries.

01:33Police will be here for some time processing the scene tonight.

01:36We're still yet to notify next of kin of the family involved that we believe.

01:40So I won't go into particular details about the deceased and the families.

01:47It's a rural road.

01:48There are stop sign, precautions, warning signs before the intersection.

01:52And it appears that unfortunately the stop signs and the precautions haven't been followed

01:57and the car has travelled directly through that intersection.

02:01As I said the full circumstances are still being investigated.

02:04At this point in time a coronial brief will be prepared by the Major Collision Investigation Unit

02:10where all the circumstances will then be understood and presented towards the coroner.

02:16Any queries or questions?

02:17Sorry, were you the age of the child?

02:20At this point we're believed to be a three-year-old child.

02:24And you were saying before, where are they all from do you think?

02:26So we believe them to be from the Geelong area.

02:31But again I won't go into particular details of addresses.

02:33And the truck driver?

02:35The truck driver is a local to the area.

02:38We've got a local run that he's well familiar with.

02:42Generally carting potatoes but at this time he was unlabeled and just travelling back towards his

02:47development.

02:47Do you know where the family we're travelling to today?

02:49We've still yet to make those inquiries so we've got lots of inquiries underway but we're yet to get that feedback.

02:55And how is the truck driver?

02:57The truck driver is shaken as you'd expect.

03:00He's with family and friends I believe being supported by the trucking company owner.

03:06But he's also assisting police with our inquiries.

03:08And just to confirm, you're saying that the car involved has gone through a stop sign?

03:15Yeah we believe the car has travelled through the stop sign and the truck had right of way.

03:19And at this point in time it appears there's no fault of the truck involved.

03:22Do you think sometimes the stop signs can easily be missed on rural roads?

03:26So my understanding is that this intersection alone there are precaution signs, there are warning signs

03:33hundreds of metres before the intersection with a clear visible signage leading into the intersection.

03:39So I don't know how it's been missed.

03:42It's either inattention or some sort of distraction because as you can see here where we're standing

03:49there's clearly signs in the distance that you can see leading into the intersection.

03:53It's quite sunny now but there has been rain and hail today.

03:56Do you know what conditions were like at the time of the crashed smoke?

03:59My understanding was at the time of the collision it was fine and the rain came through soon after the collision.

04:04How harrowing was the scene for the first responders there this morning?

04:08It's a terrible scene in that you've got a car has been t-boned by a semi-trailer.

04:16Catastrophic injuries, significant damage to the car which made extrication extremely difficult.

04:25To date we've still got some deceased on scene unfortunately, as sad as it is.

04:29Have we got any idea of the speeds at which these vehicles were travelling?

04:33There's nothing to indicate at this point in time that excessive speed has contributed to the collision.

04:39Where to from here Craig? What's the rest of the afternoon look back for you on the scene?

04:43Lots of processing of the scene, lots of follow-up inquiries.

04:48Every lead that we get will follow so we're seeking anybody who may have been in the area

04:52who has any dash cam footage or can assist with any of our inquiries please contact Crime Stoppers.

04:58Make yourself known to local police, phone triple zero and we'll send investigators to you to make contact

05:04so we can try to establish everything within the lead-up, the causation and the aftermath of this collision.

05:10Is this a particularly dangerous intersection? Do you get many accidents around here?

05:15Not that I'm aware, I'm not local, I'm from a major collision from the city but this is the first I'm aware

05:21that we've been involved with at this intersection.

05:23There's obviously been quite a lot of fatals sadly on rural roads this year. What's your message to drivers?

05:28One life lost is one too many. On rural roads you're correct we have seen far too many lives lost this year.

05:36Drive to the conditions, slow down, take your time. The difference between just a little bit over the

05:42speed limit is a couple of minutes to arriving at your destination. You would rather get there healthy,

05:47happy, enjoy the spring carnival period, enjoy the Christmas lead-in with your family rather than

05:53having these death messages delivered to family and friends and the catastrophic ripple effect

05:58this has in the community, in schools, in families, in friendship groups. It's a sad loss.

06:04You mentioned the lady was being airlifted to hospital. Do you have any idea of her condition?

06:10At this point in time she's speaking with some investigators but I don't know the

06:15circumstances of her injuries and she's in the best place for her at the moment with hospital,

06:20giving her all the care and attention she can. Do you know what position in the car she was seated?

06:24We believe her to be the right rear passenger behind the driver. Three generations,

06:29one family, that's going to have a huge impact on those who knew them. Significant impact.

06:34It has an impact on family, on friends, on colleagues, on anybody who knew the family and

06:39then the ripple effect it goes beyond that. Communities, work groups, however it's significant

06:45and we see this in our all road trauma. The ripple effect it plays in society is significant

06:51and can never be understated. And was the child in a proper sort of child safety ceiling?

06:58That's still forming part of the investigation but the initial observations are is the child

07:03has been properly restrained in an approved car seat. Who was driving? Which one of the

07:08the male 41-year-old driver with a 31-year-old female front seat?

MCIU Detective Inspector Craig McEvoy speaks on a triple fatality west of Ballarat - The Courier - November 11, 2025

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