The man's female passenger was taken to hospital with minor injuries, while the driver of the other car involved in the collision was taken for mandatory blood and urine testing.

The highway was closed to all traffic seven kilometres north of Cooma at 10.50am on Tuesday. It reopened on Tuesday afternoon with stop/slow traffic conditions in place to allow traffic to pass in both directions.

The crash site was cleared and all lanes were re-opened around 3.30pm.