Speed limit reduced after fatality at notorious Illowa intersection

Koroit police Sergeant Pat Day said the speed limit on the Southern Cross Road from the Princes Highway had been reduced to 80kmh.

Sergeant Day said he had responded to a number of serious crashes at the notorious Tower Hill Road-Southern Cross Road intersection, including a crash this year in which a cyclist was killed.

He said he was pleased the speed limit had been reduced, but was concerned people were failing to come to a complete stop at the intersection.

"In my nine years I've seen a number of fatalities and serious injuries at that intersection," Sergeant Day said.

"Hopefully the reduction in speed may save someone's life.

"We've issued three or four infringement notices to people who have failed to stop.

"People just want to roll through the intersection."

In February this year, a 57-year-old Yangery cyclist died after he was struck by a vehicle near the intersection.

Sergeant Day said Koroit police were also shocked by the high number of motorists caught speeding in August.

"We've issued 49 speeding tickets in the month of August in the Koroit area," Sergeant Day said.

"It's disappointing that we're catching that amount of people speeding - particularly in one month."

Sergeant Day said a number of motorists were being caught in areas where there had been road trauma and the high speeds were concerning.

"It's not unusual for us to issue a couple of loss of licence notices for speeding each month and that's when people are travelling at very high speeds," Sergeant Day said.

He also reminded people to be aware of wildlife when travelling near Tower Hill.

He said kangaroos were often spotted out and about grazing in paddocks and were most active from dusk to dawn.

"Go as slow as you can near Tower Hill and be prepared that a kangaroo may jump out," Sergeant Day said.

He said he had witnessed the aftermath of a number of collisions involving kangaroos.

"We've seen cars that have been undriveable and we've seen crashes where people have hit a kangaroo and gone on and lost control and crashed," Sergeant Day said.

"People need to be incredibly cautious."

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