POLICE are warning of a grim road toll for the rest of the year, with chilling new statistics predicting that up to 50 people are likely to die on the state’s roads and two in the south-west between now and Christmas.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The alarming prediction comes as a woman, believed to be an overseas tourist, died following a single-vehicle crash near Scotts Creek on Tuesday afternoon. Another female passenger received serious head injuries in the horror smash and was airlifted to Melbourne’s The Alfred Hospital.
Warrnambool police Superintendent Peter Greaney said there had been eight lives lost and more than 60 people seriously injured on south-west roads since January 1.
And while the number of deaths is down 38 per cent from the same time last year, Superintendent Greaney said there was no acceptable number of road deaths.
“The road toll is down but we could still see up to 50 people die on state roads between now and Christmas – that’s about two (deaths) in the south-west.”
Police said a female passenger died after a vehicle left the road and collided with a tree near the Timboon-Colac Road in the latest tragic crash on the region’s roads on Tuesday.
Superintendent Greaney said the incident would have a devastating impact on the family and friends of the deceased.
“Another person has died on our roads and although not a local, it has a big impact on that poor person’s family,” he said. “The family now has to come to Australia and to repatriate the body back to their own country, it will have a huge impact on their family and friends.”
With less than 100 days until Christmas, Warrnambool police are working hard to reduce regional road accidents, which account for more than half of all lives lost on Victorian roads.
Superintendent Greaney said 16 local officers were currently attending a road policing course; while members of Warrnambool’s heavy vehicle unit were targeting truck drivers failing to abide by fatigue and other laws.
Victoria Police western region division two Inspector Paul Marshall said the division was working with Geelong district police to target tourists on the Great Ocean Road.
He said that coordination between the Warrnambool and Mount Gambier highway patrol units was putting a focus on dangerous drivers travelling across the South Australian border and into the south-west.
And that Warrnambool detectives were also working with highway patrol units and licensed premises to investigate reports of dangerous and impaired drivers.
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.