POLICE have warned people not to go four-wheel-driving alone after a family of seven was stranded in the Bunyip State Forest on Saturday.
Senior Constable Frank Bailey, of Emerald Police, said the family’s day trip went horribly wrong when their 4WD became bogged on the Blue Range track in the Bunyip State Forest.
He said several units from Emerald and Yarra Junction Police were called to help the family.
Sen Const Bailey said after a search , the family was located safe.
But he said the search took longer than expected because the family was not sure of their exact location.
He said the family had only purchased their 4WD on Friday and that they had shown their inexperience by going four-wheel-driving ill-equipped.
He said most tracks could become treacherous with the constant drizzling rain common to the forest area in winter and that people should always carry a shovel, wheel chains and, if possible, a winch.
Sen Const Bailey has urged people planning a four wheel driving trip in to the forest to make sure they go with at least one other vehicle in case they get stuck.
Motorists are also being urged to slow down in wet and slippery conditions after a driver lost control of his car on Beaconsfield-Emerald Road on Sunday.
Sen Const Bailey said that roads were slippery at this time of the year and drivers needed to slow down.
“Drivers sometimes forget it’s not safe to travel through the bends at speeds that would be safe during dry weather,” he said.
“The family was eventually safely conveyed back to Cockatoo but not before the need of winching and use of mud chains from the police vehicles in their retreat out of the forest,” Sen Const Bailey said
Senior Constable Frank Bailey of Emerald Police said the incident happened shortly after 7pm after the driver lost control and skidded sideways before hitting an embankment on the opposite side of the road.
