The drivers a 71-year-old man from Ballan and a woman in her 80s were both driving west on the freeway when the crashes happened.

In the first crash, the man was taken to Ballarat Base Hospital with lacerations to his face after losing control of his car near Wallace just after 8am.

Sergeant Travis Barber said it appeared the driver had drifted right towards the median strip before over-correcting and slamming into the concrete barrier on the left hand side of the road.

This caused a ricochet which saw his silver sedan spear across the two lanes, narrowly missing a tree in the median strip.

“He would have been doing about 110km as there are skid marks about 100 metres from where the car has ended up,” Sergenat Barber said.

“He’s been incredibly lucky that he hasn’t hit a tree.

“There were a number of people who have seen what happened and stopped to render assistance before emergency services around. 

“At this stage we are not sure what’s caused it, whether it was a medical episode or a loss of concentration, but investigations will determined that.”

In the second incident, a woman in he 80s was taken to St John of God Hospital after a crash at a road works site on the Western Freeway near the Gillies Street North overpass.

The woman had no noticeable injuries, but was transported for observation.

The woman’s car is believed to have crashed into roadwork machines near the overpass.

Police are still determining the cause of the crash and whether speed was a factor.

Meanwhile, police are also investigating the third suspicious car fire in the Ballarat region in the past week.

A Holden was torched on Finchs Road, Bunker Hill at 4.48am on Friday morning.

Police are to determine whether this fire and ones at Nerrina and Creswick this week are linked. Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.