Victorians are urged to take extra care on our roads with the Australia Day long weekend and end of school holidays presenting a busy and high-risk period on the state’s roads.

Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford today joined TAC Acting CEO Liz Cairns to urge road users to heed the road safety message and play their role ensuring every journey is a safe one.

Last year, eight people were killed on the roads in the six days from the start of the Australia Day long weekend to the end of January, with six of those fatalities occurring in regional areas.

Already in 2020, 15 people have been killed in road crashes in Victoria, eight on regional roads, with people set to hit the roads in droves from this weekend, traveling long distances to visit loved ones, attend social events and return from holidays.

There will be a highly visible police presence on the state’s roads, with Victoria Police’s Operation Amity focusing on high-risk areas across the state, predominantly in regional areas.

Police will be targeting behaviours including drink and drug driving, speed, fatigue, mobile phone distractions and people not wearing their seatbelts.

Operation Amity is partly funded under the Transport Accident Commission’s Enhance Enforcement Program, with funding allocated for an additional 448 hours of traffic enforcement activities across the long weekend.

People are being reminded that the roads will be busy and with increased traffic comes a higher-risk of something unexpected happening.

Victorian schools will also be returning next week, adding to the expected high volume of holiday traffic, with road users also being reminded to obey the reinstated school zone speed limits and take care.