Two men had a lucky escape when their vehicle rolled on the Stuart Highway north of Renner Springs yesterday.

Police received a report just after 4.30pm that a Toyota Hiace van had rolled 15 kilometres north of Renner Springs. The 24-year-old male driver told police that he was driving south on the highway when he fell asleep behind the wheel. He woke as the vehicle drove onto the dirt verge then overcorrected causing it to roll and land on its roof.

The driver suffered lacerations to his arm while his 27-year-old male passenger escaped injury. Both men were French Nationals.

Territory Duty Superintendent Rob Burgoyne said the men had travelled from Mataranka at 9.30 in the morning and stopped for lunch at Daly Waters before changing drivers and continuing south.

"This incident should provide a timely warning to drivers to take care when travelling long distances as fatigue was clearly a factor in this crash," Supt Burgoyne said.

"This message is especially important for those people from overseas who are not familiar with our road conditions and not used to driving such long distances."

"It was simply good luck that there were not serious injuries or even deaths"




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