UPDATE: Falls Festival Responds To Police Investigation After Man Injured In Car Accident

UPDATE: 

Organisers have responded to the police investigation regarding a vehicle incident at Falls Festival in a statement provided to The Music.

"Event medical staff, police and detectives were called to the scene immediately following the incident, and the driver of the car was interviewed, swabbed and breath tested on site. The injured patron was assessed by event medical staff immediately following the incident. Police are currently investigating the incident and the driver of the car," the statement reads.

"Due to the nature of police matters, and privacy laws, we are not privy to information regarding the patron’s wellbeing post incident unless they personally contact us. To date we have not received any direct contact from the injured patron or his parents.

"As police move through their investigative process, they are in direct contact with the patron involved and only contact us should they require further assistance from the event.

"Falls has multiple levels of safety checks that go into the planning of the event. We have experienced event staff who assist with parking cars on site. For risk mitigation purposes we park cars parallel, nose to tail to prevent any potential unforeseen vehicular movements.

"Falls has a Safety Committee, that includes key event management personnel and external agencies, who consider all elements around the safety of the site, staff and patrons as a continual process throughout the year. The role of the Safety Committee is to identify, develop and implement procedures to mitigate risks across the event.

"The safety of our patrons is paramount, and we will be assessing this incident and review as part of our ongoing risk management process, as we strive for continual improvement."

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Police are investigating after a man was run over by a car attempting to leave the Falls Festival campsite in Lorne. 

As ABC reports, 24-year-old Andrew Pepper was sleeping in his tent on New Year's Day when a car lost control and ran over two tents before coming to a halt on Pepper. 

Pulled from under the car by friends, Pepper confirmed that he suffered a fractured vertebra and is waiting on an MRI scan to investigate possible bleeding on his brain. 

"The paramedics have said the only reason I'm still alive is because I was on my stomach," he told ABC.

"They said if I was on my back and the car had have gone over my chest it would have been a whole different story."

The group were camping on "a steep hill in wet weather" and had expressed concerns to organisers when initially told to camp there. 

"We went there, we didn't want to, we knew it was dangerous and the proof's in the pudding now, isn't it?" Pepper said. 

Pepper and friends have now expressed concern as to how the incident was handled by festival organisers. 

One friend, Rebecca Dickson, shared a post describing the incident on Facebook. 

"It should also be mentioned falls festival [sic] have made no attempt to contact the man who was trapped to check his condition," it reads. 

"Nor have they tried to contact anyone in the group who had to deal with such a distressing event. 

"Not the way anyone should have to spend their New Year’s Day due to negligent organising."

Falls Festival have said they are "saddened" by the incident and confirmed that police are currently investigating in a statement provided to ABC. 

"We have multiple levels of safety checks that go into the planning of the event site," it reads.

"We have experienced event staff who park cars on site, to ensure they are parked on safe angles and for risk mitigation purposes we park cars nose to tail to prevent movement.

"Police were engaged onsite as soon as the incident occurred and the patron was handed to our medical team.

"Due to the nature of police matters, and the privacy laws, we are not privy to information regarding the patron's wellbeing post-incident unless they contact us directly."

The Music has contacted Falls Festival for further comment.