Victoria's road toll 23 per cent higher in 2023
It's been a shocking year for the number of lives lost on Victoria's roads with the deaths more than 23 per cent higher than last year.
Transcript
00:00 The number of deaths on Victoria's roads has risen to 296 with the latest death being a
00:09 man, a motorcycle rider overnight who died at about 8pm last night in regional Victoria.
00:16 It's the highest number of deaths on Victorian roads in the past 15 years and the reasons
00:22 behind these deaths are usually small things. The Victoria Police and the Transport Accident
00:27 Commission call them low level mistakes and they include things like drivers going slightly
00:33 over the speed limit, using their mobile phones while driving and being slightly over the
00:39 drink driving limit. Victoria Police also believe at least 19 deaths on Victorian roads
00:45 were people not wearing their seatbelt. The Transport Accident Commission was out earlier
00:51 today in Melbourne reminding people to be careful on the roads and to take a break from
00:56 driving when they needed it and here's a little of what she had to say.
01:02 One of the key factors we've seen in the high numbers of drivers killed this year and passengers
01:08 as well is accidents on high speed rural roads. Unfortunately when you have a crash on a high
01:17 speed rural road it is very difficult to survive. If you are going to be out and about over
01:24 New Year and during the holiday period we'd really ask you to plan ahead. The key thing
01:30 is to know where you're going, how long it's going to take, make sure there's absolutely
01:35 no need to speed and that you can drive for the conditions.
01:40 And of course it's not just Victoria, road deaths have been increasing Australia wide
01:45 this year with the national total in the year to November rising to 1,253 deaths. That rise
01:53 in lives lost has been driven by a 23% jump in New South Wales and a 61% jump in South
02:00 Australia. So as we come into one of the last or the last weekend of the year, it's also
02:06 one of the busiest times of the year on our roads, the message really is to slow down
02:11 and to remember that every family on the road this New Year's is trying to get somewhere
02:16 and to just be safe and take breaks when you need it.
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