A man had been sleeping in his Mercedes Benz on the side of the highway near Albury early Saturday morning.

A southbound semi-trailer struck the back of the car about 2.30am.

The truck veered out of control, hit a wire barrier, ran into a table drain, tipped over and slid as fuel leaked from the vehicle. 

The truck took out two light poles and came to rest with the rear in Jelbart Road, crossing a bike path.

It followed a similar B-double rollover near Chiltern on Friday where the truck veered off the highway a tipped. 

Albury Civic Fire Brigade captain John Vandeven said it had been lucky there was no water in the drain.

“That was the saving grace for us,” he said.

“One of his fuel tanks had ruptured on impact with the wire barrier and diesel was spilled across the grass area.

“Luckily there was no threat to the environment.

“The diesel stayed in the table drain and had to be cleaned up once the truck was recovered.”

The semi-trailer had been transporting second hand tyres.

“I think the driver was pretty shaken,” Mr Vandeven said.

“I guess having a seatbelt on has saved him otherwise he probably would have been thrown from the vehicle.

“The man in the Mercedes Benz was extremely lucky to escape being hit by the truck.”

On the other side of the Border, a man was arrested in Barnawartha after a police pursuit involving a stolen car.

The driver came to police attention about 2.30am on Sunday after a car chase two nights earlier.

Officers followed him from Glenrowan to Barnawartha and used road spikes to stop the car.

Leading Senior Constable Richard Cameron said the car had only been pursued for the last 30 seconds after being followed for about 40 minutes. 

“It was a planned response, rather than a pursuit,” he said.

The 62-year-old driver, who is an itinerant from interstate, has been charged with about a dozen offences.