Victorian road toll: Two dead in Christmas holiday tragedies
UPDATE: The road toll has risen yet again after a man flipped his car and died in the state’s northwest — the latest Christmas holiday tragedy on Victoria’s roads.
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THE road toll has risen yet again after a man flipped his car and died in the state’s northwest last night.
The male driver is believed to have lost control of his car on St Arnaud-Wycheproof Road in Teddywaddy West, near Donald.
The car swerved off the road and flipped over.
Police attended the scene about 10.15pm but is believed the crash happened earlier in the evening. The man was the sole occupant of the car.
Yesterday, two men died and two more are facing life-changing injuries after more Christmas holiday tragedies on Victoria’s roads.
Major collision detectives are investigating whether fatigue was a factor in a crash at Somerville early on Tuesday that killed a male passenger, 29. Two other men, aged 27 and 30, were last night recovering in The Alfred, where they were expected to have surgery for serious injuries.
Detective Sergeant Darryl Out said passing motorists stopped to put out a fire.
“(They) did a lot of good work to try to save the people,” Sgt Out said. “It would have been very chaotic and traumatic for them.”
A motorcyclist also has died after a collision on the Bellarine Peninsula on Tuesday night, and police said another man died shortly before Christmas, five days after hitting a kangaroo north of Melbourne.
The motorcyclist, 61, collided with the animal at Beveridge and was thrown down an embankment from his bike, but died on December 23.
So far this year, 287 people have been killed on Victoria’s roads and police fear more will die in the final days of 2016 if attitudes do not change.
Officers delivered heartbreaking news to three families in the days leading up to Christmas and at least another three since — including on Christmas morning, when a 37-year-old man died at Clunes after crashing his car into a fence and parked car.
“Every single one (of the 287 lives lost) are very real people, loved ones, family members who are never coming home,” Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said.
“We want everyone to take this very personally.
“With those sort of statistics, it does and it will happen to someone you know.”
Alarming statistics show 323 drivers were on drugs in recent days — one in every 13 drivers tested by police.
Another 631 were caught drink-driving during the first 11 days of the police force’s Operation Roadwise.
Mr Fryer said the results were deeply concerning.
“Police are doing everything we can ... to curb the number of lives lost on our roads, but we can’t do it alone,” he said.
“We see some horrendous scenes,” Mr Fryer said.
“We see bodies torn apart ... (police) never forget the image of it — it’s imprinted on their minds.
“Two hundred and eighty four times this year (police have) gone to an address and delivered a death message.
“While it’s a horrible part of their job, it’s far worse for the people who have lost someone,” he said.
“Their life is changed forever.”
Victoria Police officers will continue patrolling streets and highways in Operation Roadwise, the force’s Christmas-New Year holiday period road safety blitz, for the next fortnight.