A Hillside man is among 12 people who died on Victorian roads during a two-week police operation.
The 40-year-old died after the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car in St Albans on Anzac Day.
His death marked the end of the statewide Operation Nexus, which ran from April 13 to April 25. More than 19,500 traffic offences and about 2600 crime offences were detected on Victorian roads during the operation.
Local police detected 370 offences in Melton and 270 offences in Moorabool during Operation Nexus.
In Melton, police nabbed eight drink drivers, 11 drug drivers, 26 disqualified drivers and 18 unlicenced drivers. There were 200 speeding offences recorded, 16 sign disobeys, 15 seatbelt offences, 11 mobile phone offences and 67 unregistered vehicles. Police impounded five vehicles.
And in Moorabool, there were four drink drivers, six drug drivers, four disqualified drivers and seven unlicenced drivers detected. Police recorded 220 speeding offences, three sign disobeys, three seatbelt offences and 23 unregistered vehicles, and impounded two vehicles.
Victoria Police road policing command acting deputy commissioner Doug Fryer described the number of people thinking they could get away with risking lives on roads as “madness”.
“As the operation came to a close [on April 25], 12 families went to bed mourning the loss of one of their own, with their lives changed forever,” he said.
“Road trauma does not discriminate … We as police can’t be everywhere. That is where the onus must go back on to all road users to police themselves when on the roads.”
The fatalities over the two-week operation include:
- A 19-year-old man who was killed when his car veered off the road and crashed in Bowser on April 13;
- A 58-year-old male cyclist who was struck by a car from behind while riding along a highway in Pakenham on April 14;
- A 91-year-old man killed in a two-car collision in Tynong North on April 15;
- A 21-year-old man who died after his car crashed into a tree in Tallandoon on April 18;
- An 85-year-old pedestrian who was hit by a cyclist in St Kilda on April 18;
- A 69-year-old passenger killed in a two-car collision in Cann River on April 19;
- A four-year-old boy who was struck by a four-wheel-drive at a Berwick medical centre carpark on April 21;
- A 66-year-old man killed in a two-car collision in Goornong on April 21;
- A 55-year-old man who lost control of the car he was driving and struck a tree in Alexandra on April 21;
- A 43-year-old pedestrian who was standing on a road in Shepparton when he was struck by a car on April 21;
- A 27-year-old motorcylist who collided with a minibus at French Island on April 23; and
- A 40-year-old motorcylist who was killed after he was struck by a car in St Albans on April 25.
