By KATRINA BRANDON
THIS Easter, Victoria Police are reminding drivers that safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Local authorities will be out during the holiday period with a road policing operation targeting dangerous drivers.
Acting Senior Sergeant David Harrison told the Express: “Road Safety is a shared responsibility. Everyone plays a role in protecting their own lives and those around them. Another road policing operation will be in effect over the upcoming long weekends of Easter and Anzac Day”.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to be safe on the roads. Driving is a privilege. Holding a driving license is a privilege, so for those who abuse that privilege, it’s not a case of if we find you, it’s when we will catch you, and we’ll try and prevent loss of life and tragedies.”
Operation Winston was launched last month in the Morwell, Churchill, and Tyers areas. During the operation, police detected 18 offences. Police booze buses were also set up during the operation, testing more than 900 people.
“The aim (of the operation) was to keep people safe on the roads, detect dangerous driving, and remove high-risk drivers from the roads,” Acting Senior Sergeant Harrison said.
“Road trauma isn’t just a statistic. Last year, 15 people lost their lives in our region, 239 people suffered life-altering injuries. Behind every number is a family devastated as well. These aren’t just numbers, they’re real people whose lives have been shattered.”
Some of the offenders nabbed in Operation Winston included:
– One driver detected with a blood alcohol reading of 0.074, resulting in the driver’s license being cancelled and disqualified for six months and a $593 fine;
– Another driver with a blood alcohol reading of 0.124, resulting in loss of license for 12 months and an $840 fine;
– One driver detected with cannabis in their system, and;
– One driver caught driving 140km/hr in a 100 km/hr zone on Monash Way, Morwell, resulting in an extended license suspension.
According to the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) analysis of road fatalities from 2020 to 2024, new research reveals that most deaths on regional Victorian roads over the past five years involved residents, showing that the unexpected can happen even on the most familiar roads.
The research follows a tragic start to the year on Victoria’s roads. January was the deadliest month on Victoria’s roads since March 2008, and the worst start to a year since 2001.
The new TAC data analysis dispels the myth that people dying in fatal crashes in regional Victoria are predominantly visitors or people unfamiliar with the roads they’re traveling on. Just four per cent of deaths were people travelling from outside Victoria or Australia.
Around 70 per cent of the regional fatalities analysed happened on high-speed roads, most of which had low traffic volumes and gravel shoulders and involved either a vehicle running off the road or into an oncoming vehicle or crashing at an intersection.
“People get into their mindsets of knowing that road; they do it day in and day out. Their minds might be on other things, such as what they’re doing for the day and how their day at work will go,” Acting Senior Sergeant Harrison explained.
“They miss those small tell-tale signs, and just those small things can add up, just always be aware, and just always stay alert and keep an eye out for each other.
“I think we need to reiterate that safety is everyone’s responsibility, so they just need to remember that the smallest things can have the biggest impact. Speeding just that small amount, or failing to obey a simple road sign, can result in devastating consequences. So the public just needs to be reminded to go easy and look after each other out there.”
