Car plunges into sinkhole near Geraldton

A motorist was left shocked but unharmed when her car plunged into a sinkhole at Cape Burney, near Geraldton, this morning.

Naomi Suckling was on her way to work about 6.40am, travelling along Thames Way, when she noticed a lot of water had begun to pool on the road.

Ms Suckling said she knew something was odd and slowed down to around 30km/h before the ground collapsed underneath her.

Although Ms Suckling was able to bail out of the Hyundai Tucson without getting trapped, the car continued to sink deeper into the hole after she escaped, the interior filling up with water.

Ms Suckling said quite a few people had gathered by the time a tow truck arrived, with two inspectors from the Water Corporation also appearing on scene.

She eventually got a lift to work, but was allowed to return home because she was still shaken up from the incident.

It is unknown yet whether the car will be written off, but in writing her crash report Ms Suckling said she was left without a good option for "fell into sinkhole".

"I had to say I crashed into an object because that was the closest, they might need to add an option for sinkholes to their system," she said, laughing.

Water Corporation acting Mid West manager Mike Pickering said a broken water main had damaged the road surface that day and there would be an investigation to determine the cause of the break.

“Proactive maintenance of existing infrastructure is an important part of our annual program of work,” he said.