HIGHWAY patrol units have been hitting the region’s major roadways in an attempt to curb high-risk driving as part of Operation West Connect.
In the first half of this year, 141 lives have been lost on Victorian roads, 35 of these deaths occurring in western Victoria.
Four road fatalities have occurred in the Swan Hill and Mildura police areas in that time, a number that police are seeking to bring down to zero.
Operation West Connect is a monthly occurrence for Swan Hill police, and something Swan Hill highway patrol Sergeant Zac Bull calls a “proactive commitment to road safety”.
“We’d love for the number of lives lost on Victorian roads to be down to zero,” he said.
“This operation lets us have more police in our Swan Hill area, so that we can really flood our major arterial roads.
“We can strategically deploy our resources, so anyone using the roads on those operation days will see at least one police car on their travels.”
Through the four days of operation, Swan Hill police completed 256 patrol hours in both the Swan Hill and Mildura police areas.
During that time, police stopped 286 vehicles, issued 50 penalty notices for speeding and 21 penalty notices for other offences.
Sgt Bull said the other offences included distracted driving, seatbelt breaches and driving unregistered vehicles, but the amount of speeding he saw was “just crazy”.
“When we conducted Operation Regal over the long weekend, it alluded to the fact that we are severely up against it when it comes to speeding motorists,” he said.
“Putting a stop to road trauma is a focus for all of Victoria Police, not just us here at highway patrol, because it’s something that affects everyone.
“Road trauma affects kids who go to school, it affects businesses, our paramedics, police and frontline workers who have to turn up and respond to these things.
“The collision that we had in Carwarp the other week is just a reminder of how careful we need to be and how we need to be focused on the roads 100 per cent of the time.”
Sgt Bull begged motorists to make focus their main task on the road.
“Distraction offences and speeding are still the number-one causes of our collisions,” he said.
“We need people to be putting their entire focus on the road, and just to take their time.
“Licensing is a privilege, and it’s a privilege to be able to drive on the roads – and if people aren’t doing the right thing, VicRoads will certainly be taking your licence away.
“To anyone who takes the route of having to speed on the roads or have no care for their fellow road users, Victoria Police will catch up with you.
“We will make sure that we process those offenders to the full degree of the law, because it is not worth having them on the road and causing road trauma.”
Western Region road policing Inspector Justine Ryan said Operation West Connect was “just one road policing initiative we’ve implemented to help keep all road users safe on roads out in the state’s west”.
“While road trauma is actually down on roads in western Victoria compared to last year, 35 lives lost is still far too many, and we know first hand the ripple effect this has across our communities,” she said.
“Our highway patrol members are always actively on the lookout for motorists who flout the rules and make dangerous choices that put all road users’ lives at risk.
“Speeding continues to be a major contributing factor to serious-injury and fatal collisions on regional roads, and yet we continue to catch so many people going over the speed limit.
“Slowing down and sticking to the speed limit, as well as avoiding distractions behind the wheel, are things we can all do to help make our roads safer and prevent further tragedies.”
