Police in East Gippsland and Wellington shires are encouraging drivers to slow down and pay attention, after recent collision data showed a 66 per cent increase compared to the same time last year.
Superintendent Mark Edwards said speeding and the use of mobile phones while driving were two significant factors playing a role in the collision jump.
“We’re seeing some concerning behaviours around driver behaviour, particularly around some of the rural back roads, speeding,” Supt. Edwards said.
“We’re certainly keeping an eye on speed, because speed is factoring into a lot of our collision data, particularly on these rural back roads.
“The age demographic of people that are being killed (on the roads) generally sits in the male drivers under 25 but at the moment with the fatal collision data, it’s older drivers that are featuring more in our data, so the 50s to 70s.
“Drivers around East Gippsland and Wellington will notice there have been speed reductions in certain areas where we believe that the speed zones are set too high for the type of roads that they are.
“We’ve done a bit of work in reducing those speed zones, but we’ve also doing a fair bit of work in policing those speed zones as well because we know from our collision data people are still driving too fast on regional back roads.”
Supt. Edwards said the majority of those being caught using their phone are younger drivers.
“We’ve got issues around people who are on their devices, we’ve already had one fatal collision this year where a person on a mobile phone has struck and killed a cyclist,” he said.
“Your license can disappear pretty quick if you choose to be on your phone, and our data tells us that people who are on their devices and being distracted are featuring in the collision data, in our serious injury data and the fatal collisions data.
“It’s not just about the money and the demerit points, it’s actually about your life, so stay off it.”
It’s not only driver inattention and speeding contributing to collisions, but the condition of the road itself.
“If you have a look around the region, roads in some areas have deteriorated with weather and traffic, so we’re seeing some more broken up roads and potholes,” Supt. Edwards said.
“Everybody has to be more vigilant, and a little bit more careful and reduce your speeds accordingly with the wet and icy conditions.”
