Police will be out in force over the Australia Day break in an attempt to avoid another horror weekend on south-west roads.
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The region's road safety adviser Senior Sergeant Matt Wheeler said there'd be an extra focus on road policing efforts and driver behaviour as Operation Amity kicks off.
Running from Wednesday morning until midnight on Sunday, police anticipate significant road activity as motorists travel to and from regional areas.
Senior Sergeant Wheeler said police members didn't want a repeat of the horrors seen on south-west roads on Sunday.
A 65-year-old Panmure man died in a single-car collision on Timboon-Port Campbell Road just before 3.30pm.
Hours earlier a livestock truck rolled at Willatook, leading to the death of 29 cattle.
Senior Sergeant Wheeler urged drivers to pay attention to the road, traffic and weather conditions.
"They are always changing and motorists need to drive accordingly," he said.
"They need to be able to react to any hazard as it happens in order to avoid a collision."
Senior Sergeant Wheeler said police would saturate the region's roads as part of Operation Amity, focusing on speed, fatigue, impaired driving, seat belts and distraction offences.
"You can expect to see us both in towns and on rural roads, as well as targeting licensed premises," he said.
"We will also be breath testing as many drivers as we can over the weekend."
The Standard recently reported that more than half of the region's fatalities involved impaired drivers in 2022.
The road policing boss said over 50,000 drivers were tested for drink-driving across the south-west last year.
"Even with the bad run that we had, that level of testing had a positive effect and it's something that motorists can expect to see again this year," he said.
"We just want people to be with their families and get home safely. We don't want to book people but we will if we have to. Our goal is to make the community safe for everyone."
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Jessica Howard
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
