When a driver needs help, whether it is a flat tyre, a crash or other damage they can’t drive away from, who do they call?

In Greater Shepparton, you can call Freers or Shepparton Towing, so when The News wanted to know what the worst spots were for accidents, that’s who we called.

Freers Panel Works towing and breakdown manager Christopher Walker said there were several notable areas that he and his team frequented.

“A lot of them that we go to will be on the Midland Hwy, Tatura,” he said.

“We also have Goulburn Valley Hwy and Kialla Lakes Dve.”

He said the main concern at that intersection was the traffic lights, where people turning and those going straight ahead both attempted to drive through on the yellow.

“That’s probably the biggest thing that I have to say is driver distraction ... is getting worse,” Mr Walker said.

Mitchell Rd was identified by Mr Walker as bad for high-impact accidents, and where Barmah-Shepparton Rd meets the Goulburn Valley Hwy has low visibility for drivers, resulting in accidents, he said.

The state of the roads is an issue, especially Echuca Rd in Mooroopna. Mr Walker said he had seen an increase in incidents there since October 2022.

“Echuca Rd was a massive one after the floods came through, it just destroyed the roads, and it took for ever (to fix),” he said.

“People running through the potholes are causing damage to their own cars.

“They (the government) require us to have a roadworthy car, but the roads are not car-worthy.

“The state government doesn’t give enough money ... it’s been good to say that they’ve upgraded a lot of it, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Shepparton Towing manager Rocky Costa agreed with Mr Walker’s assessment of the intersection of Kialla Lakes Dve and Goulburn Valley Hwy but said a different area was the most frequent call-out site for them.

“That’s 100 per cent a hotspot but the corner of St George’s Rd and Sobraon St is by far the worst,” Mr Costa said.

“We’d average one every one or two weeks there, if not more.”

Looking at Mooroopna, the intersection of the Midland Hwy and Echuca Rd is a hotspot.

Mr Costa said he attributed a lot of the incidents to driver error.

“It’s got to the stage where people are just impatient, so accidents happen everywhere,” Mr Costa said.

He said there were certain times of year when he noticed an increase in the number of accidents.

“Obviously, in Christmas there is more traffic on the road,” he said.

“There are more breakdowns, more cars on the road and more chance of accidents, but the quietest seems to be the school holidays.”

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Thursday, 6th March 2025

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