A fatal crash south of the ACT border on the Monaro Highway has closed traffic

Police said a white van heading south on the highway was hit head-on by the Commodore when it veered onto the wrong side of the road travelling north about 11.17am.

NSW Police said that the driver of the van was trapped in the vehicle and suffered critical injuries.

Police said that despite the efforts of emergency services, the driver of the van died at the scene.

The driver is yet to be formally identified, however, he is believed to be aged in his 50s.

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The driver of the Commodore - a 48-year-old man - and his female passenger sustained minor injuries.

The driver was subjected to a roadside breath test and allegedly returned a positive result.

The pair were both treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics, with the driver treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later airlifted to Canberra Hospital by Toll aeromedical.

Traffic diversions are currently in place at Williamsdale, and the road has been closed in both directions 100m south of the ACT border.

Motorists are urged to avoid the area and check www.livetraffic.com for updates.

Police said NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol Traffic South officers had initiated a pursuit of the Commodore after it had failed to stop, but had abandoned the chase "due to safety concerns".

NSW Assistant Commissioner Joe Cassar, the Southern Region Commander, said that heavy traffic on the highway was unable to divert and would have to be held at the roadblock until the highway opened. Light traffic is being diverted onto other regional roads.

"[The Commodore driver] was driving well, well in excess of the speed limit when [the pursuit] was terminated," he said.

"Here we've got an innocent third party, a road user complying with the road rules and we have someone who has complete disregard for the road rules and safety of others.

"And it's because of [the Commodore driver's] poor judgement and behaviour that we've seen him on the wrong side of the road and ultimately causing a head-on collision.

"I can tell you the police officers involved are not only specialised highway patrol officers but are well experienced in highway patrol and dealing with high speeds, so when you talk about having the right, trained officers to deal with an incident, I couldn't ask for two better officers to be responding to this incident."

A critical incident team from Wollongong Police District will now "investigate all circumstances surrounding the incident".

That investigation will be subject to an independent review.

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