There have been three fatal collisions in the south-west so far this year

Victoria Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Justin Goldsmith said there were six fatalities on Victorian roads during the Australia Day long weekend Operation Amity, including deaths near Hamilton and Halls Gap.

He said at the end of the operation that there had been 30 lives lost this year, up from 21 at the same time last year.

The road policing chief said more than 75 per cent of fatal collisions this year had happened on rural Victorian roads.

"Disappointingly, we've also seen another tragic period on our roads that has resulted in six lives lost within four days," he said.

"It's been a particularly bad start to the year, and we're really concerned about the high number of fatalities this month, particularly on rural roads across the state."

There was another fatal collision on Monday this week near Coleraine on the Glenelg Highway when a Mitsubishi Outlander and a cattle truck collided.

That followed the single vehicle rollover death of Panmure's Reg Dumesny, 65, along the Timboon-Port Campbell Road on the afternoon of Sunday, January 22.

Key factors being investigated in the death of Mr Dumesny include road conditions and the mechanics of his classic car.

During Operation Amity In the Warrnambool police service area, covering Warrnambool, Moyne and Corangamite councils, there were two drink drivers caught.

There was also one disqualified driver, four unlicensed drivers, two vehicle impoundments, 70 speeding offences, five drivers nabbed for disobey signs or signals, seven seat belt offences, two motorists caught using their mobile phone and eight unregistered vehicles intercepted.

In the Sotuhern Grampians police area, also covering the Glenelg shire, there were no drink or drug affected drivers.

There was one disqualified driver intercepted, four unlicensed drivers, six unregistered vehicles, 57 speeding offences, three motorists who disobeyed signs or signals, one mobile phone offence and one cyclist caught breaking the law.

But, the offending has continued after the weekend operation.

Colac police conducting traffic duties detected a vehicle travelling 21km/hour over the speed limit on the Princes Highway in Pirron Yallock at 2.30am on Wednesday.

Alarmingly, the same driver was detected early Tuesday on the same stretch of road travelling 36km/hour over the speed limit.

The driver was issued three penalty notices, totalling $1896, and their licence has been suspended for six months.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Goldsmith said automatic number plate recognition technology has helped police detect more than 500 unauthorised drivers during the five-day Australian Day long weekend road safety blitz.

Operation Amity saw police enforcing on Victorian roads during the high-risk Australia Day period, with ANPR technology fitted to highway patrol and specialist police vehicles used to detect disqualified, suspended and unlicensed drivers.

Police detected an average of 100 unauthorised drivers during each day of Operation Amity, which is an increase on the 85 unauthorised drivers detected per day during the statewide road policing operation over the Christmas period.

More than a third of all infringements issued were for speeding, with majority of detections for speeding ranging between 10km/h and 25km/h over the limit.

Police also caught 225 drink drivers and 198 drug drivers during the operation, with 117,703 alcohol and drug tests conducted across the state.

"Whilst it's great that ANPR technology is helping police to detect and remove more unauthorised drivers than ever before, it's also frustrating that we continue to detect an increasing number of these suspended, disqualified and unlicensed drivers on our roads," he said.

"Unauthorised drivers have no right to be on the road, yet they continue to flout the rules, putting their lives and others at risk.

"Rest assured, our enhanced capability means that we are stopping these drivers in their tracks and removing them from our roads, making it safer for all road users," he said.

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