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IT HAS been a tragic few days on Victoria’s roads, with five people losing their lives since Thursday.
The deaths of the three women and two men bring the number of people killed in collisions this year to 226, up from 198 at the same time last year.
The five-year average for the same period is 196.
Transport Accident Commission senior road safety manager Samantha Cockfield said the rising number of road deaths was a trend seen in Victoria, other states and overseas.
Ms Cockfield said a combination of factors were contributing to this, and an increasing number of drivers – 2000 new drivers take to the road each week – and a growing number of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, were among them.
But the gap between the number of people killed this year and last was closing, she said, and “there’s always hope” to cut road deaths.
“What we’re really hoping is the Victorian community recognises that each one of us has a role to play,” Ms Cockfield said.
The number of deaths on the roads is 14 per cent higher than it was at the same time last year; two weeks ago, it was nearly 18 per cent higher.
“People really know what they need to do,” Ms Cockfield said.
“Speed and speeding is involved in so many crashes still, despite the fact we know speeding increases the risk of a crash.”
Alcohol was still “playing a fairly big role” in country areas, she said, and fatigue and distraction were other common factors.
Ms Cockfield urged drivers to think about their driving, plan alternative transport if they planned on drinking and for those taking long trips, plan rest stops and ensure they were fit to do the drive.
She said drivers should also pledge to drive within the speed limit and to the conditions, because this would best prepare them for anything they came across on the roads.
She also asked drivers to look out for motocyclists, and for those on motorbikes to ensure they wore protective clothing and rode in a predictable manner.