Emergency services have freed a person trapped in a car, following a serious collision at Warilla.
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Paramedics were called about 12.15pm Wednesday to a crash site on the corner of Lake Entrance Road and Leawarra Parade.
Among the patients were a 50-year-old man who complained of neck and back pain and a 45-year-old woman with a potential head injury.
The inured woman walked freely out of her car, a gold Mazda hatchback. The injured man remained trapped for about an hour in a black coupe, conscious but not responding normally, according to early reports. Paramedics were able to begin treatment with him still in the car.
Firefighters used hydraulic equipment to cut open the badly damaged coupe, which came to rest against a partially fallen traffic light.
Westbound traffic was being diverted onto Leawarra Road as the Crash Investigation Unit got to work.
The trapped man was freed about 12.30pm .Paramedics took spinal precautions in handling him en route to hospital.
Resident Kayne Horsley came running when he heard the crash.
He tried in vain to open the doors of the black coupe but found them stuck.
"Only the driver's side door would open a little bit," he said.
"I made sure I could see that [the driver] was still breathing and alive. He was in pain. His eyes were open.
The other car involved was carrying a man and a woman, who emerged on the street "pretty angry", Mr Horsley said.
"After that, the response team was here within five minutes," he said.
Lake Illawarra Police District's Chief Inspector Brian Pedersen said: "The information that we've ascertained at this stage was that the [female Mazda] driver was turning right out of Leawarra onto Lake Entrance Road, and the black Coupe was heading west on Lake Entrance Road, and early indications are that [the Coupe driver] may have disregarded the red traffic control light and it resulted in a collision at the scene."
The road was not particularly busy at the time of the crash.
"It's quite fortunate that nobody was seriously injured and that there was only two cars involved," Insp Pedersen said.
"Lake Entrance Road is [usually] fairly busy ... especially in the middle of the day. There was the potential there that it could have been far more serious than it actually is. So we're very fortunate in that regard."
The collision occurred not far from a tribute marking a past fatality on Lake Entrance Road.
Insp Pedersen urged drivers to take greater care to avoid future tragedies.
"We see the carnage involved, we see the hurt that's involved, not only for the people involved in the collision but for their family, their friends, even for the emergency services that attend," he said.
"All people need to do is drive to the conditions, especially when we have traffic control lights. Obey the lights, don't try to beat them.
"Be aware of their surroundings and just be careful. That's all we're asking."