A teenage p-plate driver has suffered multiple injuries after he lost control of a tipper-truck and rolled it onto the other side of the road at Stanwell Park on Tuesday afternoon.
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The 19-year-old man was airlifted to St George Hospital with head, arm and leg injuries after being freed from the overturned truck on Lawrence Hargrave Drive.
The road was closed in both directions between Railway Crescent and Otford Road from about 2pm and was reopened shortly before 6pm following the removal of the wreckage.
Ambulance NSW's Illawarra duty operations manager Inspector Norm Rees said Fire and Rescue NSW crews were first on scene.
Firefighters cut the driver, who holds provisional two licence, free from the truck by removing the truck's steering wheel and compressing the floor to release the driver's chest and feet.
"From what witnesses stated, it appears the driver has lost a bit of control and started to sway," Insp Rees said.
"As he has come down he has tried to negotiate a left bend and the tipper truck has gone over.
Paramedics stabilised the man before he was transported to a waiting helicopter that had landed in a reserve off Lower Coast Road.
"The man lost consciousness for 10 to 15 minutes," Insp Rees said.
"When he did awaken, he had repetitive questioning and became quite combative which are both indicative of a head injury.
"We had to medicate and sedate him to make it easier for the transition in the helicopter."
The truck was carrying asphalt and debris was on the road following the rollover.
Insp Rees said there was also fuel on the road, which was cleaned up by Fire and Rescue and Rural Fire Service crews.
He said it was "lucky" no one else was injured during the crash.
"Considering the driver got onto the wrong side of the road on a decline, he could have hit a number of cars," Insp Rees said.
"It is very lucky for all parties concerned."
Emergency services crews were diverted and had to travel further due to road closures on the Princes Highway between Lawrence Hargrave Drive and M1 Princes Motorway.
"That made it a little more confusing but we just had to deal with it," Insp Rees said.
He also reiterated the need to for truck drivers to travel the road conditions.
"When on steep declines, use your gears rather than your brakes because otherwise the brakes will overheat and run out of control which puts everyone in peril," he said.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said the circumstances surrounding the crash were under investigation.