COBDEN police have made a plea for driver caution after the fourth fatal road accident in the district in only seven months.
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Sergeant Heather Morris said there did not seem to be a common thread to any of the accidents, but the only answer was greater care behind the wheel.
She said contributing factors to the four fatal accidents included speed, weather conditions, night conditions and driver unfamiliarity with the area.
“It has to come back to driver vigilance. Motorists have to drive to the conditions and if unfamiliar to the area take all due care,” Sergeant Morris said.
“In country areas there is always the danger of animals coming out of the side of the road. Drivers have to be prepared for the unexpected.”
Sergeant Morris said fatal road accidents had an enormous impact on rural communities.
“There are massive flow-on effects to the community — families and friends and all emergency service personnel who attend these accidents,” she said.
“We would just plea for driver caution.”
The string of accidents started on September 9 last year with the death of a 21-year-old Colac woman who collided with a tree at Jancourt East along the Timboon-Colac Road. It was dark at 8.25pm and raining.
Then on December 22 there was a fatal motorbike accident at Cobrico along the Cobden-Terang Road.
The 35-year-old Boorcan rider took a sharp left-hand bend near the intersection with Erreys Road, lost control and died.
It was still light at 8.30pm due to daylight saving.
On January 14 this year former cricket administrator Rob Haberfield died when his B-double cattle truck overturned and caught fire at Ecklin South.
He was travelling east on the Cobden-Warrnambool Road about 11.20am when his truck left the road about 300 metres from the Ayresford Road intersection.
Mr Haberfield was trapped in the cabin and died at the scene.
On Wednesday a 68-year-old Port Fairy man died in a collision with a truck five kilometres east of Cobden at the intersection of the Cobden-Stonyford Road and Shenfields Lane.
The accident happened just after noon.
athomson@fairfaxmedia.com.au