Rescuers will be killed on the Princes Highway unless motorists slow down for emergency crews, a frustrated Far South Coast captain says.
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Dalmeny Rural Fire Service spokesman Mick Anderson says crews called to clear a fallen tree on the highway on December 29, 2018, were at risk when angry and impatient motorists failed to slow.
“We’re going to lose firies, ambos, and police on the road unless people start following the law,” he said.
“It’ll take the death of an emergency services volunteer to make people take it seriously.”
One northbound lane of the Princes Highway was closed for approximately 20 minutes after a tree fell across the road between Mort Avenue and Dalmeny Drive.
Narooma Police and Dalmeny RFS attended and were assisted by a passing arborist who helped clean up the larger debris.
Mr Anderson said there was a lot of small and sharp twigs on the road.
“Dalmeny 1 and Dalmeny 9 both came down to clear the road, and got things back to normal,” he said.
Mr Anderson said the cleanup job was made more complicated by passing drivers.
“We had a number of drivers ignoring the 40 km/h law, and that made the job more dangerous than it should have been,” he said. “We also had a couple of drivers make rude gestures at us as well.
“There are people out there volunteering to make things right, they do a tough job, and it’s made even tougher by ignorant people.”
Mr Anderson believes it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.
The 40 km/h law came into being in response to a number of fatal incidents involving emergency services.