Police are urging people to focus their attention on the task at hand while driving, following a number of injuries and fatalities on roads across the region in recent weeks.
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With restrictions continuing to ease and people jumping in their cars more often, Highway patrol Senior Sergeant, Stuart Gale, said people needed to concentrate.
He said there had long been a theme of country people dying on country roads, especially when close to home.
"It's needless and it can be avoided," Senior Sergeant Gale said. "People need to concentrate when driving as the consequences of inattention can be dire."
He said this was especially important when getting closer to home.
"These collisions are avoidable," he said. "Concentrate fully on the road, not on changing the radio station or thinking about the jobs you have to do or what you'll have for dinner that night. If you lose focus you could miss a vital give way sign or cross over a line on the road."
He said people should always be well rested before driving and should apply their full attention to the road and the job at hand when behind the wheel, so they are aware of both road signage and other road users.
A trend among the recent collisions in the region is older drivers, aged above 70.
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On August 28, a male driver in his 80s was killed after striking a tree at Korweinguboora. Not 24 hours later, a cyclist in his 50s was killed after being struck by a car being driven by an 81-year-old Newlyn man. Then last week, a 71-year-old driver was killed following a collision with a light truck at Burrumbeet.
Statistics indicate that drivers aged over 60 have relatively consistently been represented in road trauma across the region.
From January 2015 until June 2019, the Transport Accident Commission received 223 claims involving hospitalisation from drivers in this age group.
The vast majority of these claims were from drivers (125), followed by passengers (39) and then pedestrians (27).
The majority were regarding incidents which occurred in Ballarat (111), followed by Hepburn (34), Golden Plains (33), Moorabool (33) and Pyrenees (12).
Most were crashes which occurred when the driver ran straight off the road, followed by incidents of crashing into a vehicle travelling in the adjacent direction.
There have also been a number of fatalities. While there have been a number of deaths of older people on our roads lately, statistics indicate there has been a decrease compared to previous years.
From 2014-2018, there were 21 deaths of community members aged over 60 but from 2019 until today, there have been seven fatalities.
There have been two fatalities each in Golden Plains, Hepburn and Moorabool, while there has also been one in Ballarat.
Older drivers are at risk of being killed or seriously injured in road collisions due to the increased frailty of the human body as it ages.
"The human body can only withstand so much force under speed and impact," Senior Sergeant Gale said. "And unfortunately, the older we get, the less force we can handle and that has serious consequences."
The human body can only withstand so much force under speed and impact and unfortunately, the older we get, the less force we can handle and that has serious consequences.
- Senior Sergeant Stuart Gale
According to the TAC, while most older people are capable of driving safely, they should take into account their slower reaction times, loss of vision and hearing, flexibility and use of prescription drugs which could cause drowsiness when assessing if they should renew their licence.
Head of Road Safety, Samantha Cockfield, said it was important for all Victorians to maintain their mobility and independence in using our roads for as long as they are physically and mentally fit to do so.
Drivers are legally allowed to drive at any age in Victoria, if medically fit to do so and there is no requirement for drivers aged over 75 to have a compulsory medical fitness to drive assessment.
Licences for drivers 75 years or older are renewed for three year periods to encourage drivers to assess their fitness to drive and need for a driver's licence regularly.
"We encourage drivers of any age to have conversations with health professionals and family if they are worried about their fitness to drive, to help ensure their own safety and that of other road users," Ms Cockfield said.
"Family members should also reach out to loved ones if they are concerned about their ability to drive safely."
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