Elsie Lange
Macedon Ranges police want to raise awareness around an escalation in road trauma throughout the region.
Acting Sergeant Dwayne Sharam from the Macedon Ranges Highway Patrol said a spike in accidents had occurred across the Macedon Ranges, the central goldfields, Bendigo, and Campaspe municipalities.
He said the accidents were generally tied back to “high risk” themes, including excessive speeds, high risk driving and impaired driving and an increase in vulnerable road user collisions – particularly motorcycles.
“A lot of that comes back to a lot of the recreational riders that are coming up to the area, particularly with the better weather and trying to get back out into a normal lifestyle since the lockdowns have lifted,” Sergeant Sharam said.
He said since the start of the year, in the Macedon Ranges there had already been one motorcycle fatality and 12 crashes in which people were seriously injured.
“We’ve had a number of collisions in the last week that aren’t included those numbers, including a 29-year-old male in Woodend that was airlifted to hospital in a life-threatening condition after crashing on a motorcycle,” Sergeant Sharam said.
The man crashed into a bluestone curb in Woodend on Sunday, March 27, police said.
He said the accidents could also be linked to a “degradation in driving skills”, with people getting back on the roads after lockdowns.
The deterioration of roads following recent storms and ongoing weather conditions may also have played a part in the collisions, he added.
“The message that we’re trying to get across is that road safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Sergeant Sharam said.
“These collisions are preventable, people [need to] take a bit more time to show a bit more care in what they are doing.”
