Serious injuries bad start to year
Sixteen serious injury collisions in the first six weeks of the year have prompted local police to issue a stern road safety warning.
Coming off the highest number of road fatalities in more than 10 years in 2021, Baw Baw Highway Patrol sergeant Andy Milbourne said there was one simple message - “think about what you are doing and make the right decision.”
Adjusted fatality statistics for the Baw Baw police services area showed eight people died in fatal collisions. The figure was originally 10 but two were removed due to medical grounds.
Sgt Milbourne said local police did not want a repeat of last year’s horror on local roads. But with 16 serious injuries in the first six weeks, he said it was a bad start.
The warning coincides with a new hard-hitting Transport Accident Commission campaign highlighting the shocking injuries that motorcycle riders could avoid by wearing their safety gear on every ride.
The campaign urges people to wear protective clothing on a bike, no matter the distance or speeds travelled, the weather or destination.
Motorcycle fatalities were one quarter of last year’s statistics on Baw Baw Shire roads. Sgt Milbourne said it was frustrating to see motorcyclists on the road wearing shorts and t-shirts
“I know you only have to legally wear a helmet but you should have the protective gear and full face helmet. If you don’t have the right gear on, you are increasing your chance of being seriously injured or killed,” he said.
Sgt Milbourne said Baw Baw’s road statistics were primarily represented by two at-risk groups including young people aged under 25 and drivers aged over 60-years. “They are our most vulnerable and we need to address that.
“The difference between a serious injury, a fatality and walking away without injury is literally millimetres,” he said.
While pedestrians and motorcyclists will be targeted in the new TAC campaigns, Sgt Milbourne said TAC funding also would target policing on local roads.
“We will be on the secondary roads and back roads, not just the highways. We will be popping up everywhere. We are out there to make sure people get home in one piece.
“We have TAC funding to do extra patrols... we will have extra police on the roads,” he said.
Sgt Milbourne said police also had “ramped up” breath testing and more police had been trained for driver drug testing.
He said drink driving continued to be an issue. Last week, he intercepted a driver for speeding who recorded a blood alcohol content of 0.08 and then the following day intercepted a driver who recorded 0.150.
“If people think they are going to get away with it, they need to think again because it can have consequences. We are coming into a busy time of year with long weekends, we want people to do the right thing.
“We will do everything we can to get impaired, speeding and distracted drivers off the road,” he said.
The Victorian road toll is already at 33, 13 more than the same time last year.
TAC chief executive officer Joe Calafiore said it had been a tragic start to 2022 and the TAC and police wouldn’t sit by and accept it. “We can all play our part by slowing down, wearing a seatbelt, putting the phone away, driving well rested and not drunk or on drugs.”