The number of fatalities on Wimmera roads increased slightly in 2020, while there was a significant decrease in road fatalities across Victoria.
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Ten people died on roads in the Wimmera's five municipalities, one more than the nine recorded in 2019, according to the Transport Accident Commission's latest statistics.
The Northern Grampians saw the biggest increase with four deaths in four separate incidents near Stawell and Great Western, compared to one in 2019.
Western Region Road Policing Senior Sergeant Brendan Broadbent said there was no common factor that contributed to the 10 fatalities.
He said speeding, drink and drug driving, fatigue, and illegal phone use were all concerns.
"At one stage, we had a stretch of three fatals in the space of roughly a month, but they were all totally different types of collisions," he said.
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The increase came despite Victoria recording 19 per cent fewer deaths last year, falling from 266 to 213.
Victoria Police partly attributed the decrease in deaths to having fewer people on the roads in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns.
Sergeant Broadbent said it did not necessarily have the same impact in the Wimmera.
"We didn't have the same traffic volume coming through the highways, but we did see a slight increase in higher speeds," he said.
"We saw vehicles speeding up a little bit more with less traffic on the road slowing them down.
"Certainly in a number of incidents, there was a fatal collision on a straight stretch of road where speed was a factor."
Six of the fatalities were from single-vehicle incidents, three multi-vehicle incidents, and one incident involving a pedestrian.
Sergeant Broadbent said most of the fatal collisions were residents outside the Wimmera.
"That means we have to look at our safety messaging to see how we're formatting that and who we're targeting," he said.
"Are we messaging our local people, who are pretty good at obeying the road rules and driving sensibly, or do we have to spread it wide on social media for people travelling through?"
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While the number of road fatalities decreased state-wide, Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Libby Murphy said road trauma per 10,000 vehicles was actually higher than usual.
She said it was also a concern to see regional and rural Victorians over-represented in the statistics, with 126 deaths coming on regional roads compared to 87 in Melbourne.
Assistant Commissioner Murphy said a lack of traffic on roads had also resulted in an alarming increase in dangerous speeding above 145 kilometres an hour.
She said 34 per cent of deaths were caused by people speeding.
"We saw some really significant and concerning behaviours when the lockdown was occurring," she said.
"The levels of speed over 145 kilometres an hour was staggering. That's backed off now that there are more vehicles on the road.
"What I'm asking each and every one of you to do is to slow down, be courteous, be patient.
"I challenge you to do your part, be good humans, and understand the impact you can have on other road users."
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