It comes as 20 people have died on the state's roads so far this year - more than three times the number of people who died as a result of road trauma at the same time last year.

While the Australia Day public holiday falls on a Wednesday this year, police are still expecting roads to be busy as Victorians travel to social gatherings or to the beach.

As a result police will undertake 48-hour Operation Amity from 12.01am Tuesday morning.

Officer in charge of Ballarat and Moorabool Highway Patrols, Acting Senior Sergeant Andy Rigg, implored people to take it easy when travelling.

"Because it's a midweek public holiday people might be planning to go for a big drive or visit friends and family.

"People might try to fit a lot of things into the one day and if that's what you're going to do we ask you to plan your driving and slow down. Take a little bit longer to get there or stay a bit longer so you are well rested," he said, adding fatigue could kill.

"So many studies show sleep deprivation and driving while tired is the equivalent of being a drink driver. It is one of the major factors in road accidents."

He encouraged people to share the driving and take breaks to mitigate fatigue.

There has been one fatal collision at Little Hampton, near Trentham, in the region earlier this month in addition to numerous collisions resulting in serious injury.

Acting Senior Sergeant Rigg said every available police officer in the region would be involved in the operation in an effort to prevent further road trauma.

"People will see a saturation of our highway patrol but where possible every unit, be it uniform or detectives, will be working Operation Amity.

As well as fatigue, the operation will also focus on drink and drug driving and the number one cause of road trauma - speeding.

"If people are out planning to do something on Australia Day, be aware that if you are then you may be pulled over and be breath or drug tested.

"There will be no discretion. If you are speeding, you will be fined."

He said it wasn't just lives lost that police were acting to prevent but also serious injuries.

"It is certainly tragic that people lose their lives and the impact that has on their families and friends," Acting Senior Sergeant Rigg said.

"With serious injuries there are long-term impacts to people and their friends and family in regards to recovery and hospitalisations and the fear of whether or not someone will survive."

He said collisions also impacted on the emergency service crews that attended them, with police, paramedics and volunteers with the State Emergency Service or fire services all being exposed to the trauma.

"So is the first person at the scene and their family. It is such a knock-on effect and the net that is cast around people that are impacted by serious injury and fatality collisions is enormous."

With almost a third of the 20 fatalities so far this year being people aged under 25, Acting Senior Sergeant Rigg said it was important to have conversations with loved ones so they do not make decisions that could risk people's lives.

"I have two children aged under 25 and I regularly have conversations with them about making good and safe choices when it comes to their driving and I encourage other parents to do so too," he said.

With recent statistics highlighting that around 10 per cent of fatality collisions in 2021 involved an unauthorised driver, police are continuing to use the automatic number plate reader technology fitted in all highway patrol cars to take these drivers off the roads.

The technology alerts police driving the car to red flags with passing vehicles, such as the vehicle being unregistered, driver disqualified or unlicensed or if there is an outstanding warrant for their arrest.

"If you don't have a licence you shouldn't be driving, but if you know someone who is driving unlicensed you can talk to that person and tell them they shouldn't be driving because there is always a reason why they don't have a licence."

It comes after a road policing operation across Ballarat last week, between January 20 and 23rd.

Acting Senior Sergeant Rigg said this was a targeted operation with a total of 292 patrol hours across the area and more than 2000 preliminary breath tests conducted.

During the four days police identified 322 traffic offences, including drink and drug driving, but with the vast majority of offences being speeding.

More than 20 drivers were also deemed to be unauthorised, whether unlicensed or disqualified, and nearly 50 vehicles were found to be unroadworthy.

"This all goes to show that we are out there and targeting road use and people using unsafe vehicles because we want everyone to get home safely," he said.

He warned that while targeted operations were regularly organised, police were always in town to enforce correct road usage.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.