Yarck crash: Motorcyclist killed in collision with allegedly stolen ute on Maroondah Highway, Victoria
A motorcyclist has died in a horror collision with a car that police say had been stolen just hours earlier.
The vehicles collided on the Maroondah Highway in Yarck, northeast of Melbourne, about 4pm on Wednesday.
The rider of the motorcycle, who has yet to be formally identified, died at the scene while the driver of the white Ford Ranger allegedly ditched the car and fled on foot.
Victoria Police confirmed a man has been arrested following an “extensive” search of the area.
A motorcyclist has died and a male ute driver has been arrested after a horror crash in rural Victoria on Wednesday afternoon (stock image)
A 42-year-old man from Seymour, west of Yarck, is currently assisting police with investigations.
Police claim the ute was stolen from an address in Euroa earlier that day.
Charges have yet to be filed as the investigation into the crash continues.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
The motorcyclist’s death is the 101st on Victorian Roads this year and came during ‘National Road Safety Week’.
The national initiative is calling on motorists to exercise caution on Australian roads to try to reduce road fatalities.
Last year, 295 people lost their lives on Victorian roads, the highest number in fifteen years, and just under a quarter of all road deaths in Australia.
Police claim the Ford Ranger involved in the crash (stock image) was stolen in Euroa just hours before the motorcycle collision
Victoria’s deputy commissioner of road policing, Glenn Weir, said the state and country had seen a “devastating loss of life on the roads” in 2023.
“From the lives lost to their family members, partners, friends, colleagues and emergency services on the ground – thousands of lives have been affected,” Mr Weir said in a statement on Sunday.
‘We ask all road users to put safety first and take extra care, especially as we enter the winter months with reduced visibility and bad weather.’
He noted a “significant increase” in road-related trauma involving motorcyclists and pedestrians this year, ahead of a “period of particularly high risk”.