Those were the words of Police Eastern Region Division Three Acting Inspector Dave Gillespie as he urged local drivers to pay attention behind the wheel to help reduce the number of lives lost on local roads this year.
The Goulburn and Murray valleys have seen a horror year so far, with 20 people losing their lives on local roads since New Year’s Eve, and police want to see an end to the tragic trend.
Among the incidents was a crash involving a ute, a car and a truck at Strathmerton on April 20 where tragically five people were killed.
Another collision, between two cars at a rural intersection in Pine Lodge on January 4, saw four people lose their lives.
Insp Gillespie urged people to stay safe on local roads, especially at intersections, as this was where the majority of fatal crashes had occurred.
“The common theme with fatal and serious injury collisions is they are high-speed rural roads: 80km/h, 100km/h, 110km/h,” he said.
“A lot are at intersections, and a lot involve local people.
“What is a common theme across the board is inattention and failure to comply with simple rules.”
Insp Gillespie warned people who used an intersection close to them frequently to not let complacency creep in because they thought they knew it.
“They only need one occasion where two worlds collide because they failed to comply (with signs),” he said.
Insp Gillespie urged people to be especially careful at intersections on high-speed rural roads.
“The impact of vehicles on these roads can be catastrophic,” he said.
“Usually a vehicle impacts with another vehicle travelling at 80km/h to 100km/h.
“The forces that puts on a person are ordinarily unsurvivable.”
He noted that most collisions occurred because one driver did not stop.
“I can’t think of one fatal collision at an intersection where there hasn’t been a sign,” he said.
Insp Gillespie warned people to obey signs and keep their eyes on the road.
“It comes back to complacency. They look, but they don’t see,” he said.
“You’ve got to see what’s coming.”
He also urged people to call out family and friends on any bad driving behaviour.
“If you know a friend or family member who makes bad driving choices, call it out,” he said.
“We’d all rather have that difficult conversation than have them injured in a crash.”
Insp Gillespie said audits were usually done after fatal collisions by police, VicRoads and local councils to review what happened, and look at ways to prevent it happening again — whether that be the infrastructure, engineering or speed zones.
He said in 2018 there was a lot of road trauma at intersections in the Undera, Tatura, Numurkah and Murchison areas.
Community meetings were held and some roads were improved.
However, Insp Gillespie said the added attention the crashes had drawn meant local drivers started to pay more attention, and he urged locals to do the same again now.
“You are always going to have tourists who don’t know the roads,” he said.
“We as locals have to be on the ball so we don’t become complacent.”
Insp Gillespie also encouraged people on long drives to take breaks every two hours, and to also prepare themselves for the drive.
“It’s like planning a marathon. You need to prepare yourself,” he said.
“Don’t drink alcohol or take drugs, and plan your trip … so you are not on the hammer for time.”
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