TWO foreign nationals are the latest casualties of our disastrous year on the roads after they died in a horrific crash on the Glenelg Highway late on Sunday afternoon.
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And it appears that once again distraction caused by technology has played a tragic part in the deaths.
The two people, a man and a woman in their 20s, understood to be from China, were attempting to turn onto the Glenelg Highway from Waldrons Lane - a dirt road - when their Audi collided with a four wheel drive heading east on the highway at Carranballac around 5pm.
Ballarat Highway Patrol acting Senior Sergeant Stuart Gale said while investigations were ongoing it appeared that a GPS may have played a part in the deaths, the 13th and 14th on the roads in the region this year.
"We're continuing our inquiries, and we still have to notify the next of kin with them being foreign nationals," he said.
"We're investigating whether distraction was a factor in the collision, the use of IT may be involved in that, we'll continue those investigations.
"Distraction is a huge issue, mobile phones play into that, GPS's play into that, people's thought patterns also play into that, it's about people concentrating on the road."
Senior Sergeant Gale said dashcam footage was being reviewed of the incident. He said, it was possible that a GPS had directed them down the dirt road.
The deaths come as a tragic start to the week-long, National Road Safety Week where events across the country will highlight the danger on our roads.
On Friday, people who have been in someway affected by road trauma will be encouraged to drive with their lights on to highlight how many people are have directly or indirectly been involved in road crashes.
"Unfortunately 14 deaths in our area this year, it's not a good new story," Senior Sergeant Gale said.
"We can't curb it from a police perspective on our own, we need the community to deal with this.
"One of the biggest things is to be courteous on our roads, driving to the conditions, there are so many things we need to do to to look after each other."
Roads Minister Jaala Pulford, who spoke with The Courier last week said she was horrified on a daily basis about hearing another person had died on the roads.
"When we talk about the number of lives lost on Victorian roads, sometimes we can think of the number compared to last year," she said.
"But what each of those numbers represent is a family torn apart, it's a workplace with a massive gaping hole, it's an empty spot in bed, sitting next to a empty spot at dinner."
TAC Lead Director Road Safety Samantha Cockfield said the TAC was working on campaigns to warn about the dangers of distraction.
"We know distraction plays a part, particularly deaths on our country roads," she said.
"It's really about travelling for the conditions. On high speed roads, if you make an error it doesn't take much for the consequences to be horrific."
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