Victorian Road toll rises: Police plead publicly after three people died in Melbourne in one day

Victoria has reported the deadliest start in a year on the road since 2018.

Police have urged drivers to take responsibility for their own safety after three people died in separate incidents in Melbourne on Thursday alone.

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A total of 33 people died on Victoria’s roads in January, a 43.5 percent increase from the same time last year (23 people lost).

It’s the state’s worst January in five years and a significant increase compared to Victoria’s five-year January average (20).

“We have already experienced far too much trauma this year and it is up to the whole Victorian community to reverse that,” said Justin Goldsmith, Victoria Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Roads.

“There’s no time to be complacent on Victorian streets.”

Thursday’s extra three deaths will increase road tolls in 2023 to 36, with each death occurring in Melbourne’s metropolitan areas.

The first took place in Keilor East around 4.50am when a truck and motorcycle collided at the intersection of Keilor Park Drive and Western Ring Road.

The male motorcyclist died at the scene of the accident.

Four hours later at around 9.10am two cars collided at the intersection of Princes Terrace and Reynolds Parade, Pascoe Vale.

One of the drivers, a 78-year-old man from Pascoe Vale, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries but later died.

The second driver, a 40-year-old woman from Strathmore, suffered only minor injuries.

A truck was also involved in the third accident, which occurred shortly after noon in West Melbourne.

A cyclist is believed to be riding down Footscray Road when he was hit by a cement truck. They died at the scene.

No arrests were made in connection with any of the three incidents and investigations are ongoing. Goldsmith said it was too early to determine what factors contributed to each accident.

“With everyone returning to school and work after the holiday season, when everyone gets behind the wheel, everyone needs to make road safety a priority,” Goldsmith said.

“The police will do everything they can to reduce the level of trauma, but we need the support of the community.”

Three-quarters of January’s road fatalities in Victoria occurred on rural roads.

Damage to infrastructure due to severe flooding in late 2022 is not seen as a major factor, according to Goldsmith, but instead the problem lies in risk-taking behavior such as driving at high speeds or not wearing seatbelts.

“We’re seeing really high-risk behaviors…or critical failures like people running stop signs or not avoiding at intersections, they’re more of a contributor than infrastructure…that’s what we’re seeing so far in January,” he said.

Goldsmith stressed the need for Victorian motorists to take responsibility not only for their own actions but also for the actions of others when they got behind the wheel.

“We must emphasize that the responsibility lies with the community, not just with the Victoria Police or our road safety partners,” he said.

“It’s about personal responsibility and people caring for each other and for family members and friends who are willing to identify behaviors that will contribute to traffic trauma.

“I think by the time we get to that stage we’ll be in a much better position.”