'Shock waves' through community after truck crashes through house ...
‘Shock waves’ through community after truck crashes through house, killing elderly couple
The death of an elderly couple has sent “shock waves” through a small community in Victoria’s south-west, after a truck veered off a highway and smashed into their bedroom, killing the pair.
Jim and Carmel Madden — aged 81 and 80 — were inside the bedroom, and one of them was asleep when the truck left the Princes Highway. It travelled about 200 metres through paddocks before it hit the house, Victoria Police major collision investigation unit Sergeant Stephen Hill said.
Emergency services were called to the home near Tower Hill – between Port Fairy and Warrnambool – just after 7am on Friday.
“Ultimately, it is unlucky,” Hill told reporters.
Jim and Carmel MaddenCredit: Facebook
“But if we go back, and we look at the truck driver, what actually caused the collision is still what we’ll need to answer.”
The truck driver, a 70-year-old Portland man, was taken to Warrnambool Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Shortly after midday on Friday, Hill said investigators were yet to speak with him.
“Clearly there’s a real question, given the length of the rolling tyre prints through the paddock, as to how the driver wasn’t able to stop the truck prior to colliding with the house,” he said.
The Maddens were remembered as beloved members of their community who kept up their family’s farming legacy.
Carmel was a former president of the nearby Koroit Probus Club, while Jim also had deep community service ties, moving from the Apex club to Koroit Lions Club in his older age.
The Lions Club’s longest-serving member, Bruce Lowenthal, said he inducted Jim into the club in the late 1990s, and Jim was president during its 50th anniversary in February this year.
Two people, Jim and Carmel Madden, died after a truck smashed into their Tower Hill home.Credit: Nine News
The club held an anniversary celebration at Koroit Theatre and about 100 people turned up, Lowenthal said.
“That’s something we can look back on and hold on to,” he told The Age.
“For 40 years, he served his community well. He was a fine man and well-regarded … he was just a great person who cared about his community.
“Everyone knew him and everyone liked him, so it’s going to send shock waves through Koroit.”
The couple ran cattle and had horses at the family farm, Lowenthal said.
They also trained racehorses to compete at Warrnambool Racecourse.
Neighbour Pat Lane told Nine News: “[It was] a real shock this morning. They were great community people involved in the lion’s club and schools.”
Hill said the unloaded truck was heading east to Warrnambool when it crossed onto the wrong side of a “dead straight” stretch of highway, crashed through a wire fence, continued on “a relatively straight trajectory” before going through another fence and hitting the front bedroom of the farmhouse.
“I can’t say that they haven’t washed off any speed during that 200 metres [off-road], but clearly they haven’t washed off what you would expect to be all of the speed,” Hill said.
He added that police would investigate whether the truck driver had a medical episode and would keep “an open mind”.
“Whether it’s a mechanical fault with the truck, whether there’s a medical episode involved, whether it’s inattention, whether there’s a phone use involved – all of those things will have to be looked at in the next few days,” Hill said.
There was nothing on the road that caused the driver to swerve, Hill said.
An aerial shot of the Madden property on Friday morning. Credit: Nine News
The damaged house had asbestos issues that meant cleaning up the scene was delayed on Friday. The truck remained wedged in the building as Hill spoke to reporters.
“This collision, regardless of how the investigation comes out, is an absolute timely reminder about how catastrophic the damage – both to people and property – [that can occur] when truck drivers or heavy vehicle drivers get things wrong,” Hill said.
“They are absolute machines that kill people on our roads. And it’s incumbent on the drivers of those machines to make sure that they are properly and fit to drive and that they maintain control of their vehicles to avoid the catastrophic results that occurred behind us.”
So far this year, 224 lives have been lost on Victorian roads. Hill said “it was concerning” the road toll was close to what it was last year, which was the worst total for 15 years.
The truck driver, a 70-year-old Portland man, was taken to Warrnambool Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Credit: Nine News
“We are going into that busy period,” Hill said, “and there is a real risk that a number of Victorians may not make it to Christmas dinner.”
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