Truck crashes into car, pushes it along Hume Freeway
A Melbourne motorist has spoken about a terrifying ride along the Hume Freeway after his car became wedged under the front of a truck in the city's north and was dragged for several kilometres.
Jason Paul was travelling on the Western Ring Road during Wednesday's peak evening traffic when a truck changed lanes and clipped his car, spinning it around and trapping it under the bull bar, where it remained for almost five kilometres.
"He clipped my rear and I did a few spins as I recall," Mr Paul said. "Next thing I know I'm staring at his bullbar.
"I thought this is going to end up ugly. I'm going to end up under the rig."
The driver of the semi-trailer failed to notice he had collided with the car, continuing his journey onto the Hume Freeway.
Mr Paul said he frantically waved an orange pole out of the window to try and get the driver to notice his car was wedged into the front grill of the truck, fearing that at any moment he would be crushed.
"I thought I was going to die," he said.
"I grabbed an electrical cable. I was waving the electrical cable.
"Then the penny dropped. He noticed there were drivers trying to flag him down and tooting.
"It seemed like an eternity, as I guess it would."
Amazingly, Mr Paul escaped his close call with the 40 tonne truck without injury.
Senior Constable Scott Cowan said wet conditions were a factor in the crash and urged motorists to take extra care.
"It's lucky that no-one was hurt in this incident and it could have had a far worse outcome," he said.
The truck driver will receive fines for failing to give way, and a vehicle defect.
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Wet weather to blame for crashes
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Severe weather warnings are in place for parts of Victoria because of the downfalls.
Melbourne has copped its heaviest rainfall since November with 20mm falling over the past two days.
The main impact has been on the roads, with cars colliding in the slippery conditions.
There haven't been any serious injuries, Ambulance Victoria said in a tweet on Thursday, but paramedics have been called to 24 collisions across the state in the space of eight hours.
In one incident, power lines were brought down after a bus and a car collided at Blackburn Road at Doncaster East.
Police said speed was not a factor but the wet conditions made it impossible for the bus to pull up in time.
The sole passenger along with the driver of the car were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
VicRoads says there's been 33 lane closures in Melbourne over three days because of the rain.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding for the Mallee, Northern Country and North East districts on Thursday evening.
Severe weather warnings for the central district around Melbourne, the Wimmera and North Central districts have been cancelled.
Warrenbayne, near Benalla in northeast Victoria, copped the highest amount of rain with 13mm on Thursday, the bureau said.
Melbourne should get another 5-15mm of rain on Friday before it eases to a few showers over the weekend.
The State Emergency Service has had more than 70 calls for help on Thursday, mainly for building damage and fallen trees.
