An elderly couple has been taken to hospital after the car they were travelling hit the the back of a truck at high speed on the M1 Princes Motorway at Dapto.
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Emergency services were called to the motorway, southbound between Emerson Road and Fowlers Road, about 9.50am on Thursday.
Two people – an elderly man and woman – were treated by paramedics at the scene, after being trapped in their crumpled vehicle for a short time.
NSW Ambulance Illawarra district Inspector Terry Morrow said the elderly couple were in a Volkswagon SUV that collided with the back of a truck carrying a crane.
“They both received basically minor injuries, they had a lot of skin tears from impact,” Inspector Morrow said.
The elderly man behind the wheel had a back injury and chest pain from his seatbelt.
Inspector Morrow said the rescue helicopter crew arrived via road to help paramedics and assess the man’s wife, who had a long-term medical illness.
“She received injuries to her back and both her knees,” he said.
Both were taken to Wollongong Hospital by road ambulance in a stable condition.
The rescue helicopter paramedics weren’t required and returned to their base at the Illawarra Regional Airport.
Inspector Morrow said the crash involved “a fair impact”.
“But I think the car took the impact away from the people,” he said.
“I think they were quite protected in the car … the airbags were deployed and all the safety mechanisms worked, and basically relieved them of any serious injuries.”
The two-vehicle crash closed the motorway southbound for a short time.