The 58-year-old Wangaratta man had only been travelling on the road after leaving something at home and returning to collect it.

Emergency services responded to the crash, near Chiltern, about 8.30am on Tuesday.

The Holden utility driver had been travelling southbound in the left lane when a kangaroo jumped onto the road.

The driver steered too hard to the right and hit the grass shoulder before spinning out of control and hitting a tree.

The main impact was on the passenger side of the car and the vehicle caught fire.

It’s not known if the driver put out the blaze himself, but a portable fire extinguisher was visible next to the car.

Leading Senior Constable Guy Tinsley said the man had had a near miss.

“He’s very lucky to still be with us,” he said.

“I think he’s reasonably lucky that he’s hit the trees on the passenger side.

“There have been a number of trees knocked down.

“The trees, if they were a bit bigger, they might not have come out of the ground as they did.

“He might have stopped at the first tree.”

Leading Senior Constable Tinsley said kangaroo incidents were not uncommon.

He responded to an incident in Chiltern last September where a motorcyclist hit a dead kangaroo and slid about 60 metres along the road.

Statistics from the RACV show the company had almost 3600 claims for kangaroo collisions in 2014.

Wodonga recorded the seventh highest number of animal collision claims that year with 33.

“He’s moved into the right-hand lane to avoid the animal, but realistically, travelling at 110km/h, you don’t want to be changing lanes and swerving suddenly to avoid animals,” Leading Senior Constable Tinsley said. 

“You’re probably better trying to keep it in a straight line and braking as hard as possible, bearing in mind other users on the road.”

One lane of the road was closed and the vehicle had to be towed from the scene. 

Police believe the driver had not been speeding. 

He was able to remove himself from the utility and was taken to Albury hospital via ambulance.