Victoria's shockingly high road toll, the worst in more than a decade, has prompted an emergency summit as one of the state's top cops wonders if drivers are suffering "collective brain fade".
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So far in 2019, 114 people have died on Victorian roads compared to 74 at the same time last year, marking the worst start to a year since 2008.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said the state's reputation as one of the safest places in the world to drive was being challenged.
"We're having a shocking year this year. I just wonder whether as a community we're having a collective brain fade and we all just need to think about it," he told 3AW radio on Wednesday morning.
In roads around Ballarat, 14 people have lost their lives so far this year, including two foreign nationals that were killed west of Skipton on Sunday night.
Earlier this week, Ballarat Acting Senior Sergeant Stuart Gale said that IT was playing a part in distraction, with belief that a GPS may have contributed to the most recent fatalities.
"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.
"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."
Mr Leane said of the people who have died on Victoria's road this year, 18 weren't wearing seatbelts and it appeared a "significant number" could have been saved if they had.
Over the Easter long weekend, 350 people were fined for not wearing seatbelts.
People killed in car crashes were also more likely to have drugs in their system than alcohol.
The summit will be held on May 31 and include experts from the Transport Accident Commission, VicRoads, Victoria Police, Monash University Accident Research Centre, RACV, Road Trauma Support Services Victoria and motorcycle and cycling advocates.
"Almost one person a day has died on Victorian roads this year - this is heartbreaking and unacceptable," Road Safety Minister Jaala Pulford said.
Community discussions will be held across regional Victoria, which is over- represented in the road toll.
There have been 72 deaths in the regions this year, compared with 41 in Melbourne.
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