Police have recently launched a road policing operation across part of the state’s west including Hepburn Shire.
Operation Cosmo will involve an increased police presence on roads throughout Hepburn , Golden Plains and Moorabool Shires. The operation will run until the end of October.
The number of lives lost across the three LGAs has risen to nine this year compared to five at the same time last year. Across the area, 23 lives were lost in road fatalities last year including five in a singe incident in Daylesford last December.
The most recent fatality occurred in Bannockburn when a 33 year old Ballarat East man collided with a tree on the Midland Highway on July 9th.
Other fatalities occurred in Stonehaven, Clunes, Denver, Bacchus Marsh and Ballan.
Three of the fatal accidents involved motorcyclists travelling on the Western Freeway.
Police will be targeting major highways and arterials and will be on the look out for speeding and distracted drivers.
Trentham Senior Constable Jason Allison said, “Travelling at excessive or inappropriate speeds puts you and everyone else on the road in danger of being in a collision, so speeding will be a major focus throughout this operation.”
Impaired driving will also be a focus. Police will be testing for alcoholand drugs.
Since the operation started, police detected over 20 speeding offences, impounded two vehicles and detected one driver over twice the legal limit.
This article is based on a media release from the Victoria Police Media Unit.
