A man has died at the scene of a serious crash on the Huon Highway in southern Tasmania early this morning.
Emergency services were called to the incident near Castle Forbes Bay around 4am on Sunday.
Inspector John Pratt said initial investigations indicate the vehicle left the road and went down an embankment.
“On arriving at the scene, tragically, police found that a 51-year-old male driver, who was the only occupant of the vehicle, was deceased,” he said.
“Initial indications are that the car was travelling north when it left the road and collided with a tree.”
Pratt said it was “too early” for crash investigators to determine the cause of the crash, which came on the first weekend of the school holidays.
“Things like speed, alcohol, fatigue, drugs will all be considered and a report will be prepared for the coroner,” he said.
“It’s a tragic way to start the school holidays. Any death on Tasmanian roads is a tragedy and especially following on from the double fatality that we unfortunately had on Friday.”
“Tasmania Police obviously plead with all drivers to always obey the speed limits, certainly not drive vehicles after they’ve consumed alcohol or drugs, to always wear a seatbelt and to limit distractions.”
“If people are travelling extended distances, we’d certainly ask that they take appropriate breaks.”
“Ultimately, if a person is driving a car, you’ve got one job to do and that’s drive that car.”
Earlier: The Huon Highway has been closed following a serious crash this morning.
Emergency services are at the scene between Castle Forbes Bay and Port Huon.
Police said traffic to Geeveston and further south is being diverted along Palmers Road.
The highway is expected to be closed for several hours.
Police have not yet provided any further information about the crash.
The extent of the injuries or the number of people involved remains unknown.
