Three reckless tourists who ignored road closed signs and crashed on a closed road in Tasmania’s Highlands overnight have been rescued.
The trio, who were driving a Mercedes on Highland Lakes Road, ran off the road around 6pm on Tuesday night due to hazardous ice and snowy conditions.
Inspector Marco Ghedini of Bridgewater said that while the occupants of the car escaped injury, they were unable to move from the crash site for some time.
“In sub-zero weather such as last night, tow trucks are not able to attend until conditions improve and the road is suitable to drive on,” he said.
“When police arrived there was about an inch of ice on the road surface.”
He said police and emergency services will always respond when people are in need, but pleaded with people to listen to road closures and warnings, which are in place for a reason.
“Driving around road closure signs and barriers because your GPS mapping system says the route is quicker, will not be tolerated and infringements will be issued.”
“Ignoring road closure signs puts lives at risk, and also risks the safety of emergency services who have to respond in those conditions.”
“Disregarding road closure signage may also impact on a vehicle’s insurance claim and the terms and conditions of rental car hire.”
Highland Lakes Road is still currently closed to all traffic from Liffey to Miena due to severe icy conditions at Haulage Hill.
