Victoria Police is launching a major effort to save lives on the roads this March with figures showing it’s the most dangerous month for road trauma.
Operation Engage – launching today – will see police targeting road users in priority locations across the entire month.
A total 25 fatalities were recorded in March last year.
Police will be doing all they can to avoid a repeat, with 48 lives already lost on Victoria’s roads since January. The figure includes a significant spike in motorcycle fatalities which have increased two-fold compared with the previous 12 months.
Police intelligence shows over the past five years road trauma collisions in both rural and metropolitan Melbourne peaked in March. Speed, drink and drug driving, fatigue and motorists not wearing seatbelts were the biggest contributors.
Motorcycle collisions also historically peak in March with police to engage with riders on taking extra precautions to stay safe.
Heavy vehicles will be targeted with random compliance checks throughout the month.
Operation Engage will include a police blitz over the Labour Day long weekend as people head to the regions. More than 60 per cent of road fatalities this year have occurred on rural roads.
The number of lives lost in March last year was second only to November during which 28 deaths were recorded.
Operation Engage commences at 12:01am on Tuesday 1 March and concludes at 23:59pm on Thursday 31 March 2022.
For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Glenn Weir:
“March is becoming synonymous with road trauma and it’s about time we changed that – it’s completely unacceptable”
“With such a terrible start to the year on our roads, we’re really ramping up our focus on road safety this month.
“All road users should expect to see Victoria Police out on roads.
“We’ll be targeting speeding, impaired driving, fatigue and people not wearing seatbelts – all major contributors to road trauma.
