Horrific year on roads in Victoria’s north leads to police plea
A horrific year on Victoria’s northern roads has led road safety experts to beg drivers to take more care. We look back at the tragedies.
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A horrific year on Victoria’s northern roads has led road safety experts to beg drivers to take more care.
According to the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), the road toll sits at 211 at the end of September — up from 184 by this time in 2022 — with almost 60 per cent of deaths taking place in regional Victoria.
The results show a 21 per cent increase in road deaths in regional Victoria year on year — and 91 deaths on a five year average.
Road Safety Victoria boss Marcelo Vidales is urging drivers to plan ahead, wear a seatbelt, take their time and share the roads safely especially while Victorians prepare to travel across the state on the AFL grand final long weekend.
“Sadly, year on year a significant number of fatal crashes continue to occur on regional roads where speeds are generally higher and journeys are often longer,” Ms Vidales said.
“Victoria’s Road Safety Partnership is always working to deliver initiatives to keep Victorians safe, including road safety infrastructure, policy, technology and driver behaviour education.
“But as we know driving road trauma down takes all of us looking after ourselves and each other every time we’re on the road.”
Transport Accident Commission chief executive Tracey Slatter said she was “deeply concerned” by the statistics this year.
“We are deeply concerned by the level of trauma on Victorian roads and regional areas continue to be devastatingly impacted — it’s tragic and it’s avoidable,” she said.
“The factors are not new and they are common across regional Victoria — mistakes on high-speed roads and at intersections, as well as other factors such as speed, drink and drug driving, distractions and not wearing seatbelts.
“We all need to consider the significant responsibility we have when using our roads and make a concerted effort to keep ourselves and others safe on every journey.”
See some of the worst crashes in the state’s north below.
Two couples killed in Chiltern crash
A coffee break for four elderly people turned into a tragedy when they pulled back onto the Hume Freeway and collided with a B-double truck in Chiltern — between Wangaratta and Wodonga — about 10.30am on August 31.
The two couples in their 70s — Trevor Breen, Lorraine Breen, Kerry Capes and her husband Noel from Central NSW— were killed instantly.
Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said, at the time, each year a Christmas tree was put up at police headquarters with baubles for each person killed on Victorian roads.
“We’re going to need a big tree this year,” Asst Com Weir said.
‘Joy ride’ kills 15-year-old Wodonga girl
Three friends were travelling in Victoria’s north when their car collided with a truck, killing 15-year-old Montana Russell from Wodonga.
Montana’s friend — an unlicensed 14-year-old girl — was driving a Holden Captiva wagon when it crashed into a truck travelling in the same direction on the Hume Hwy, near Alexandersons Rd in Locksley just after 8am on June 30.
Montana was in the front passenger seat of the car and a 12-year-old boy was seated in the back.
The 14-year-old girl was charged with dangerous driving causing death and bailed to face a children's court at a later date.
“We’re only speculating it to what the intent of the driver was — whether it was an overtaking maneuver or an error of judgement — I’m not sure,” Superintendent Michael Layton said at the time.
A moving funeral service was held for Montana in July.
Easter nightmare: Alleged speeding drink driver crashes car
A Wangaratta man was accused of killing his cousin and brother in an allegedly drunken car accident and was allegedly speeding as fast as 223km/h on Easter Sunday.
Police allege 23-year-old Rory Teiffel was clocked at 96km/h on Murdoch Road, at 152km/h on Clarkes Lane, and at 223km/h on Greta Rd, where he then lost control and the car crashed through a wire fence, hit a tree and flipped just after 7pm on April 9.
Police allege Mr Teiffel had a blood-alcohol content of 0.079.
His 26-year-old cousin from Beaconsfield died at the scene and his 24-year-old cousin sustained life-threatening injuries and was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition.
Mr Teiffel’s brother was also flown to hospital in a critical condition and succumbed to his injuries a few days later.
High-speed T-bone collision kills four
A Shepparton man who allegedly drove through a stop sign before colliding with a Toyota HiLux ute at high speeds, leading to the deaths of his four passengers.
Harinder Singh, 41, appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on June 8 and was charged with dangerous driving causing death.
He reappeared in court on July 10 and pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of four men and failing to stop and give way at a stop sign.
It’s alleged Mr Singh drove a Peugeot sedan that was involved in a high-speed T-bone collision with a Toyota HiLux at the intersection of Pine Lodge and Cosgrove-Lemnos roads on January 4.
The four passengers — Harpel Singh, Baljinder Singh, Krishen Singh and Bhupinder Sandu — were ejected from the car and killed.
Van VS car ends in disaster
A Queensland man was killed in a collision between a van and a car in the state’s northwest earlier this year.
Emergency services were called to the corner of McEwen and Winter roads in Girgarre, west of Shepparton, about 8am on May 18.
A police spokesperson said the 19-year-old male driver of the van from Queensland died at the scene.
Early investigations lead police to believe the male driver could have failed to give way at the intersection.
The driver of the green car was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Fawkner man killed in Undera smash
A two-car crash in the state’s northwest claimed the life of a Melbourne man in July.
Emergency services were called to the intersection of Tatura-Undera Rd and Lancaster-Mooroopna Rd in Undera after two vehicles collided just after 10.30am on July 3.
One of the vehicles in the crash flipped over onto its roof.
The driver of one vehicle, a 27-year-old Fawkner man, died at the scene, while the other driver, a man believed to be in his 70s, was taken to Goulburn Valley Health in a stable condition with upper body injuries.
Car roll over on rural road claims one life
Months after the horror crash in Locksley, another person lost their life in the same area after their vehicle rolled on a rural road.
It’s believed the car was travelling on Carmodys Rd in Locksley just before 1pm on September 4 when it rolled.
One of the occupants, a woman, died at the scene while another woman was flown to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Mother dies in tragic head on crash
A woman died in a two-car crash near Albury at the beginning of the year.
Emergency services responded to the collision on Bungowannah Rd in Jindera — north of Albury about 1pm on February 25.
A police spokesperson at the time said a Nissan Dualis and a Toyota Prado collided head-on, trapping the drivers.
The driver of the Nissan, a 32-year-old mother, died at the scene and her two passengers, believed to be the mother’s children, (aged 12 and three) escaped from the vehicle without any injuries.
‘Deadliest crash on Victorian roads in a decade’
A crash in Strathmerton was known as one of the worst on Victorian roads in a long time.
Police allege a Doncaster man was behind the wheel of his Mercedes when he failed to give way at the intersection of Murray Valley Hwy and Labuan Rd on April 20.
As a result the man’s car clipped a Nissan Navara causing it to spin and roll into the path of an oncoming truck that crushed the vehicle.
All five occupants – a Cobram mother in her 60s and four young international abattoir workers — believed to be between the ages of 23 and 30 from Hong Kong and Taiwan — died at the scene.
A dog in the vehicle also died.
The 29 year-old Doncaster man, Christopher Joannidis, was charged with five counts of dangerous driving causing death at the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on April 21.
“It’s horrific, it’s catastrophic, the damage that has been caused as a result of a simple collision that has ended with the loss of five lives,” Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said at the time.
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