The death of a well-known Ballarat motorcycle club president on the Western Highway has reignited long-running frustration over the state of Victoria’s regional roads. Police say the 71-year-old man died at the scene near Trawalla, west of Ballarat, after his motorcycle is alleged to have struck a pothole on Sunday.
What police say happened #
Victoria Police said in a statement that emergency services were called to the Western Highway near Trawalla Road, at Trawalla, shortly before 1pm on Sunday following reports a motorcycle had crashed. The rider, a 71-year-old man from Ballarat, died at the scene, police said.
Police said the man is believed to have lost control of the motorcycle after it struck a pothole on the highway, though the exact circumstances of the crash remain under investigation. The Major Collision Investigation Unit is examining the scene, Victoria Police said, and a report will be prepared for the coroner, as is standard procedure following any fatal road crash in Victoria.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam footage of the area is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, police said.
A respected figure in Ballarat’s riding community #
VCN understands the man was a long-serving president of a Ballarat-based motorcycle club and a familiar figure among the region’s riding community. Friends and fellow club members have described him online as a mentor and a steady presence at local rides and community events, though we have not independently verified those accounts. Formal tributes are expected in coming days as the club and his family process the loss.
It is understood a large contingent of riders may pay their respects in the coming weeks, though no details of any memorial ride have been confirmed publicly at this stage.
Western Highway’s troubled recent history #
The stretch of the Western Highway between Ballarat and Ararat has been a persistent source of complaint from motorists and freight operators for years, well before Sunday’s crash. The corridor carries heavy interstate truck traffic between Melbourne and Adelaide, and sections of the duplication project between Ballarat and Stawell have faced delays stretching back more than a decade, partly due to cultural heritage negotiations and funding disputes between the state and federal governments.
Regional motorists have long raised concerns about surface conditions on undupliated sections of the highway, particularly after wet winters, when subsurface water damage can cause potholes to open rapidly once traffic resumes at speed. VCN understands road condition complaints in the Ballarat and Grampians region have risen in recent reporting periods, though the Department of Transport and Planning has not released updated figures specific to the Trawalla section at the time of writing.
A wider pattern across Victoria’s regional network #
Sunday’s crash has landed amid a broader public debate about the condition of Victoria’s regional and rural road network, much of which has faced years of heavy rainfall, flooding and freight growth without commensurate increases in maintenance funding. The RACV and regional councils have repeatedly flagged pothole density as a growing safety issue on arterial roads outside metropolitan Melbourne, particularly on high-speed rural highways where a sudden pothole strike can be catastrophic for motorcyclists, who have far less protection than car or truck occupants.
The Victorian government has previously pointed to record investment in road maintenance following flood damage in 2022 and 2023, and has said resurfacing and pothole-patching programs have been rolled out across regional Victoria. Whether that maintenance extended to the specific section of the Western Highway near Trawalla is a question we have put to the Department of Transport and Planning; we will update this article if a response is received.
Opposition MPs and some regional mayors have used recent parliamentary sitting weeks to press the government on road funding allocations, arguing regional Victoria has been under-resourced relative to metropolitan infrastructure spending. VCN is not in a position to verify those broader funding claims independently and reports them here only insofar as they form part of the public political record.
Motorcyclist safety on regional highways #
Motorcyclists remain significantly over-represented in Victoria’s road toll relative to their share of registered vehicles, according to figures regularly published by the Transport Accident Commission. Road safety advocates say hazards that are a minor inconvenience for a car — a pothole, loose gravel, a sunken road edge — can be far more dangerous for a rider travelling at highway speed with limited ability to correct a sudden loss of traction.
The TAC and Victoria Police periodically run seasonal campaigns urging motorists to watch for motorcyclists and to report hazardous road conditions through the VicRoads and regional road authority hazard-reporting channels. Following Sunday’s crash, some road safety commentators have renewed calls for a dedicated, publicly trackable pothole reporting and repair-time system for state-controlled highways, similar to models used in some other Australian states. VCN understands no such system currently applies uniformly across Victoria’s rural highway network.
What happens next #
A report on the circumstances of the crash will be prepared for the Coroners Court of Victoria, as occurs with all sudden or unexpected deaths in the state. A coronial investigation, if one proceeds to inquest, can take many months and may examine not only the immediate cause of the crash but also broader systemic questions, including road maintenance history and inspection records for the section of highway involved.
Local government and state road authorities are expected to face continued questioning over maintenance schedules for the Trawalla section of the Western Highway in coming weeks. VCN will continue to follow the coronial process and any government response.
Support services #
Our thoughts are with the man’s family, friends and the wider Ballarat riding community following his death. Anyone affected by this story, or needing support after a road trauma incident, can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. Anyone with information about the crash is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
