A DRAMATIC rise in multiple-person road crash fatalities in the Wangaratta Police Service Area (PSA), where 24 people have lost their lives this year, has contributed to the level of impact on local communities.
Data shows that in the local PSA there is a 4.7 per cent increase in serious injury crashes but it’s the demographic you’d expect least, with people aged 74 and over accounting for 80 per cent of the incidents.
For all injury collisions in 2023 there has been a 14.8pc drop in representation of motorists aged 25 or younger.
Eastern Region Division 4, covering the areas of Moira, Wangaratta, Alpine, Towong, Indigo and Wodonga, is sadly leading the number of lives lost on local roads across Victoria.
An increase in multiple fatality collisions compared to historical data has added to the magnitude of the fallout, with a four-person fatal at Chiltern on August 31 the latest tragedy.
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Other crashes were at Strathmerton where five were killed, four people died in a crash at Pine Lodge near the Wangaratta PSA border, and there was another near Hamilton killing four.
There was a fatal at Killawarra that’s still being investigated, there’s been collisions involving motorcycles whereby there’s been two people killed in vehicles.
Eastern Region Division 4 Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant David Gillespie attended a police strategic forum in Melbourne last Thursday aimed at addressing the crisis.
Sen Sgt Gillespie said there is a theme of cause being minor noncompliance across Victoria with low level crashes up to fatalities (although some are still before the coroner and are awaiting cause).
He said another theme is the increasing number of people occupants involved in fatal collisions.
"Traditionally when we look over the historical records, we look at a lot of collisions we see at intersections and there was one person in each vehicle," Sen Sgt Gillespie said.
"Now we're starting to see multiple occupants, and it might be because people are carpooling for a social aspect or it could be to save on the cost of travel.
"As a community we need to realise that when you take on that responsibility as a driver and you've got other lives in the car, we really need to be on our toes in relation to our minor noncompliance which is what's bringing us undone.
"Minor noncompliance is not paying attention to give way and stop signs and a lot of these intersections we're going to there's what they call repeater signs indicating signage ahead."
The impact of the Chiltern fatality was a shock to the whole community and beyond and Sen Sgt Gillespie attended this crash and the following week he revisited the location for a site inspection.
He joined the Indigo Shire Council and VicRoads at the site spending considerable time there, walking through the area and looking at what could be done to improve the intersection to try and mitigate this from happening again.
"Rumble strips are good particularly when you're approaching a major intersection and for the example of Wenkes Road and the Hume Freeway, rumble strips would be a good idea," he said.
"The approach to the Murray Valley Highway on the Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road, rumble strips might be a good idea, whenever you're approaching a major intersection, rumble strips are a good idea.
"I have gone to council or VicRoads a number of times and they'll say yeah it might work but the regulations might prohibit us from doing this, and they are some of the things we have to work through."
Sen Sgt Gillespie said the minor noncompliance is higher than he's seen on the job for some years and he's unsure if it's because people don't think they'll get caught or they're approaching driving with a different mindset.
He said more than half the fatalities across the state are due to this noncompliance and extreme driving behaviour, for example travelling at high speed, or high range drink driving, or drug driving accounts for about one third.
Sen Sgt Gillespie cited the Greta Road fatality where it was alleged excessive speed was a factor in the cause and severity of the crash.
"If you're in a vehicle whereby somebody is doing an extreme behaviour or minor noncompliance, we need to call it out," he said.
"That may fracture relationships and friendships, but I think as a community we would rather have that instead of an outcome where somebody is potentially going to jail, someone is dead, or has to live with an injury."
The consumption of alcohol, for example, and drugs post-covid has been "a real eye-opener" for Sen Sgt Gillespie.
"I don't know whether people have got into a habit of having a few more drinks because they weren't going anywhere during lockdowns, and that behaviour hasn't changed, but the attitude towards drink driving pre and post-covid has changed," he noted.
"It's almost that people are not considering that they are impaired before driving, whereas pre-covid, based on my experience, there was potentially more caution."
Higher speeds is a recurring factor in serious collisions or fatalities with data showing 19 of the 25 fatal incidents in the Wangaratta local government area since 2015 were in a 100-110kph speed zone.
Sen Sgt Gillespie forewarned that if people do get caught speeding they're not getting a warning.
"No we don't want to fine you, but if you do get caught speeding you're not getting a warning, even if it's for a minor speed that you think is just a little bit over and you think is acceptable - if you're speeding, you're in the book," he said.
Current fines for exceeding the speed limit less than 10kph has a fine of $240 and 1 demerit point, 10-20kph over the limit will cost you $385 and 3 points, and 25-30kph over is $592 and three months loss of licence.
Lives lost on Victorian roads this year stands at 209 compared to 170 at the same time last year, an increase of 22.9pc.
