The notorious Montague Street underpass in South Melbourne has been struck by another vehicle.
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The light rail bridge, which was the scene of an accident where a Ballarat Gold Bus ran under it, injuring six people, was hit by a truck on Tuesday afternoon. The vehicle became wedged under the bridge.
It’s the 226th time the bridge has been hit, according to the “How many days since the Montague Street Bridge has been hit?” website, which records incidents at the bridge. It is not an official record.
Gold Bus driver Jack Aston was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years, in December 2018 after hitting the bridge while transporting passengers from a tourism conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in February 2016.
The sentence is currently under appeal.
Many poorly considered road signs can create visual clutter, resulting in one form of driver distraction.
- Victorian Parliament Road Safety Committee inquiry
Aston was driving a 3.6 metre-high coach on February 22, 2016 when he crashed into the bridge – which has a three-metre clearance – at 56km/h. The force of the impact pushed the top of the bus back to the fifth row of seats. Six passengers were injured, and Mr Aston suffered a broken neck.
A VicRoads spokesperson expressed frustration that drivers continued to ignore the warning signs, pointing out that the gantries are fitted with rubber ‘paddles’ that strike over-height vehicles to warn drivers to take the nearest exit.
"Bridge strikes are dangerous and result in frustrating delays and congestion on our road network," said VicRoads’ Fatima Mohamed.
"Height detection gantries and warning signs have successfully reduced the number of strikes on the Montague Street bridge, but it is the responsibility of drivers to be aware of the height of their vehicle and plan journeys accordingly."
A former Ballarat barrister provided The Courier with information from a 2006 Victorian Parliament Road Safety Committee inquiry into driver distraction, which found:
Many poorly considered road signs can create visual clutter, resulting in one form of driver distraction. There is a need for the relevant authorities to develop appropriate guidelines to regulate the location, size and content of all road authority and other signs within road reserves to minimise potential driver distraction.
With Nell O’Shea of The Age.
