A TEENAGE motorist had a miraculous escape after veering off a road towards a lake and becoming impaled on a metal barrier.
Emergency crews raced to the scene of Murray Road in Coburg North where they were confronted by the dramatic scene on the embankment edge.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade managed to chain the car to its truck, preventing the vehicle from sliding into Coburg Lake.
Paramedics from the Metropolitan Ambulance Service were then able to sedate the young driver while firefighters worked to cut him free.
“The driver was heading north along Champ Street and came to a stop at a red light,” a police spokeswoman said.
“He has then turned right into Murray Road where we believe he has lost control of the vehicle, veered left and gone through a pipe fence on the embankment edge.
“One of the pipes has come through the driver’s side door and impaled him,” she said.
Ambulance spokesman Ray Rowe said the teenager “remained conscious and breathing” throughout.
“Fire crews had to cut the railing off at each end but he was taken to The Royal Melbourne Hospital with part of the railing still in his abdomen.
“It took an hour to cut him free. Two other males were in the car but were not taken to hospital,” he said
The driver is in a stable condition.
Officers were investigating whether the car was involved in a race with another vehicle.
“Police are appealing for witnesses and keen to speak to anyone who witnessed a car in a lane beside them at the time of the collision,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
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