Police have urged drivers to take greater care on the roads after an elderly Wendouree woman died following a horror head-on collision in Delacombe.
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The impact of the collision forced both cars over a grassed median strip before coming to rest in the service road of Wiltshire Lane.
The 83-year-old driver of a small silver hatchback was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital after the two cars collided on Wiltshire Lane, just north of Greenhalghs Road, at 4.01pm on Saturday. She later died in hospital.
Two occupants from the other vehicle, a dark coloured SUV, were taken to Ballarat Base Hospital with minor injuries and are now assisting police with their inquiries.
Ballarat Highway Patrol Sergeant Nathan Monteduro said Wiltshire Lane was closed in both directions for about 12 hours with Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives also travelling to the scene to help with the investigation.
The SES were called in to provide emergency lighting to allow investigators to continue to work on the scene through the night.
"The two car collision is believed to be a head-on involving cars driving opposite directions on Wiltshire Lane," Sergeant Monteduro said.
"The impact of the collisions caused the cars to land in the service road of Wiltshire Lane."
After initially landing at nearby Doug Dean Reserve, the Air Ambulance took off for a landing site along Kensington Creek closer to the crash site where it touched down to load the victim about 4.50pm.
Paramedics worked to stabilise the most severely injured patient for more than an hour, with the Air Ambulance not taking off again until just after 6pm.
The helicopter landing alongside the creek, between two housing estates, drew a large crowd of onlookers.
Sergeant Monteduro urged all drivers to consider the risks they take on the road.
"It's no secret that the lives lost this year is creeping up much higher than we would like," he said.
"We urge everyone to take care on the road. If people feel that they need to take a rest if they are feeling fatigued, to make sure they do that.
"A lot of the time when incidents occur, it's not until we look at and attend we can see it could have been avoided. We encourage people to have a think about their travels on the road, where they are going and how they are driving."
The woman's death brings the state road toll to 176 lives lost this year, compared to 142 for the same time last year.
It is the third fatal accident in the Ballarat area this year, following the death of a 73-year-old woman in a crash near Dereel in June, and a 51-year-old Blampied man who died in a pre-dawn collision on the Ballarat-Daylesford Road at Clarkes Hill on a foggy morning in May.
IN OTHER NEWS
It comes after a head-on collision at Bullarook, north-east of Ballarat, last week left a 24-year-old French woman with severe upper body injuries.
The 24-year-old woman was a passenger in a silver Nissan SUV when it collided with a dark coloured Ford Ranger ute travelling in the opposite direction on Wilsons Road at 10.50am on Thursday, August 3.
The woman, and her driver, a 30-year-old man from France, were both flown to the Alfred Hospital.
Sergeant Monteduro urged anyone who witnessed the accident, who has dashcam or CCTV footage or information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at crimestoppersvic.com.au
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