Car crash sent homes into darkness

Hundreds of homes in Bright, Smoko, Harrietville and Freeburgh were left without electricity after a motorist crashed into a power pole on the Great Alpine Road at Smoko on Sunday evening. Leading Senior Constable Scott Baldock of Bright police said emergency services were called to the crash scene around 8pm. "A Mitsubishi SUV travelling north towards Bright left the road due to the weather conditions of heavy rainfall and hit and knocked over a power pole on the opposite side of the road at Smoko," he said. "The 35 year old male driver from Forrest Hill in Melbourne suffered a broken collar bone while his female passenger was uninjured. "Considering the impact of the crash, in the 100kph zone, they were both very lucky not to sustain more serious injuries. "We'd remind all motorists to always drive to the conditions and take extra care." Both lanes of the Great Alpine Road were closed for three hours, with partial lane closure while the pole was replaced and power fully restored by 8am Monday morning. Volunteers from Bright SES, Bright and Harrietville CFA, also attended the scene. ERRATIC DRIVING Meanwhile, Bright police are appealing for any witnesses to an incident of erratic driving on the Great Alpine Road on Saturday where two vehicles were allegedly clocked at speeds up to 170kph. Ld Sen Const Baldock said the incident involving two white Toyota sedans occurred between 12 noon and 12.30pm, between Myrtleford and Porepunkah. "The vehicles were observed driving erratically and were recorded on police radar at speeds up to 170kph," he said. "One of the vehicles had a minor collision and both 19 year old male drivers from Melbourne were spoken to and are expected to charged on summons." Ld Sen Const Baldock said anyone who witnessed the vehicles or has dashcam footage is asked to contact him the Bright Police Station on (03) 5755 1444.