Since Christmas Eve six people have died, including a 26-year-old woman after her car rolled at 4am Friday morning at Mount Mercer.

A further three people have died in the south-west district meaning those two areas make up almost half of Victoria’s road toll for the year to date.

The woman’s death happened early Friday morning when she lost control and rolled her car on Gumley Road while driving to work.

It comes just hours after a 19-year-old girl lost her life in a horror smash on the Western Freeway which saw the driver also airlifted to hospital with serious injuries. 

During 2018, 12 people died on our roads. Less than a month into the new year, a third of that number have already lost their lives. 

In the first 25 days of January last year, no-one was killed on the region’s roads.

Other incidents this year include a car which hit a tree and burst into flames at Homebush on January 17 while a motorcyclist was killed on the Western Freeway just one day later, only 2km from the scene of Thursday’s fatality.

Superintendent Jenny Wilson said while investigations were continuing into all of the crashes, there were clear links in distraction, fatigue and impaired driving be it through drugs or alcohol.

Other links were that most of those involved in serious accidents have been aged under 30.

“The cause of all these is people being distracted for whatever reason,” Superintendent Wilson said. “We haven’t seen that in a long time, we’ve seen our road toll improve and we are really devastated these have taken place.”

“It’s sadness and disappointment knowing that so many young people won’t ever reach their full potential.”

The deaths come as police launch Operation Amity, a blitz where they will saturate roads across the state over the long weekend.

Superintendent Wilson said police were doing everything they can, now it was up to drivers to do the same.

“We have every highway patrol member out on the road, we have thrown as many resources as as we can to be out and about but in the last five weeks that hasn’t stopped us losing six people on the roads which just for us is tragic,” she said.

“Slow down, check your speed, if you’re impaired or you think you might be, don’t get into a car, prepare before you go, if you’re tired have a rest.

“Unfortunately all these things we’ve been saying for years, but what we need is for people to take heed. 

“Sadly as I’ve said six have lost their lives. This is real. and we don’t want that to happen to you, we don’t want your families to experience that. We want you to come here enjoy yourself and then get home safely.”

Superintendent Wilson said the often forgotten victims of road trauma were those not directly involved.

“Many families and parents are impacted at the moment as well as our emergency service personnel,” she said. 

“For us, we have many members who have been to number of incidents in a very short period of time, working under extreme heat conditions today. 

“These things impact everybody and my thoughts are with all of those affected.”

Operation Amity will feature new smaller alcohol and drug testing buses which will be deployed to target those travelling to and from celebrations in suburban streets.

Highway patrol officers will also be carrying out drug testing.

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