Police are launching a major effort to save lives on the roads during March, with figures showing it’s the most dangerous month for road trauma.
Operation Engage, which was launched on Tuesday, will see police targeting road users in priority locations across the entire month.
A total 25 fatalities were recorded in March last year.
Police will be doing all they can to avoid a repeat, with 48 lives already lost on Victoria’s roads since January. The figure includes a significant spike in motorcycle fatalities which have increased two-fold compared with the previous 12 months.
Police intelligence shows over the past five years road trauma collisions in both rural and metropolitan Melbourne peaked in March.
Speed, drink and drug driving, fatigue and motorists not wearing seatbelts were the biggest contributors.
Motorcycle collisions also historically peak in March with police to engage with riders on taking extra precautions to stay safe.
Heavy vehicles will be targeted with random compliance checks throughout the month.
Assistant Commissioner Road Policing Glenn Weir said March was becoming synonymous with road trauma “and it’s about time we changed that – it’s completely unacceptable”.
“With such a terrible start to the year on our roads, we’re really ramping up our focus on road safety this month,” he said.
“We’ll be targeting speeding, impaired driving, fatigue and people not wearing seatbelts – all major contributors to road trauma.”
Operation Engage will include a police blitz over the Labour Day long weekend as people head to the regions. More than 60 per cent of road fatalities this year have occurred on rural roads.
Operation Engage concludes at 11.59pm on March 31
