Delacombe man up to his neck in water after crashing car into Carngham creek

Ballarat Highway Patrol officers said at one stage the driver, from Delacombe, was up to his neck in muddy water, after the vehicle ended up in the water in Baillie Creek.

Acting Sergeant Guinther Borgelt said the man was conscious as his Nissan Pulsar quickly sank more than one metre before coming to rest on the bottom of the creek.

"This is a freak incident," Acting Sergeant Borgelt said.

"I've personally never seen anything like this before."

He said the red sedan passed in front of a car travelling in the opposite direction before the Nissan left the road.

That driver then called triple-zero at 1.05pm and got into the water.

"She and another driver raised the alarm," Acting Sergeant Borgelt said.

"The initial reports we got were that the car was sinking into the water and it was all a bit touch-and-go."

He said the first people on the scene had access to a window-smashing tool but acted wisely in waiting for the car to stabilise on the bottom.

"In that situation it can be very hard to open the door with the weight of the water - and if you rush into something like this you can make a bad situation worse," Acting Sergeant Borgelt said.

"They acted in the best interests of the driver who was conscious the whole time.

"Once the car had stopped, the first emergency personnel had arrived.

"The lady who made the call got quite wet - so did other locals who were helping."

The temperature at the time was around nine degrees.

Police said while the window-breaker was not used in this situation, they encouraged drivers to carry them.

"Using it depends on the situation, but it's handy to have that device just in case," Acting Sergeant Borgelt said.

"It was fortunate that another driver saw what happened. The place where the car went in - it would have been impossible to see it from the road unless you knew it was there."

MICA paramedics were sent to the accident, as well as Ballarat and Carngham firefighters.

The man was taken in a stable condition to Ballarat Base Hospital.

Specialist equipment was brought in to tow the car from the creek.

Ballarat police are still investigating what led to the accident.

EARLIER:

A car has crashed into a creek in Carngham, west of Ballarat, with emergency services rescuing a man in his 80s from the vehicle.

The incident happened on Beaufort-Carngham Road at Baillie Creek, near the Carngham-Trawalla Road intersection, just after 1pm on Wednesday.

The red sedan was significantly submerged in the creek, which runs under the bridge on Beaufort-Carngham Road.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson confirmed the 81 year-old man was taken to the Ballarat Base Hospital in a stable condition.

MORE TO COME.

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