Cade Lucas
No fatalities were recorded on Wyndham roads over the Melbourne Cup long weekend, but the death of five locals in Daylesford still made it a tragic period for the municipality.
The death of Point Cook’s Pratibha Sharma, her partner Janit Chungh and daughter Anvi and Tarneit father and son Vivek and Vihaan Bhatia, when an SUV crashed into a pub beer garden in Daylesford on Sunday, contributed to 13 fatalities recorded across the state from Friday November 3 to Tuesday November 7.
The deaths recorded during Operation Furlong, a statewide road policing operation conducted over the Melbourne Cup long weekend, brought Victoria’s road toll to 251, 10 more than for the entirety of 2022 despite almost two months still remaining in 2023.
It is also the highest road toll recorded since 256 people died in Victoria’s roads in 2008.
Road Policing Assistant Commissioner, Glenn Weir said the results were alarming.
“This should be a wake up call to everyone – don’t think that road trauma can’t happen to you, because it can,” he said.
“During Operation Furlong we still detected far too many motorists doing the wrong thing – whether speeding over the limit, using their mobile phone whilst driving, or driving whilst impaired.
Road safety is everyone’s responsibility, and we need all road users to take more care on the roads – particularly as we head towards the high-risk period at the end of the year.”
In Wyndham, 7 drunk drivers and 7 drug drivers were detected during Operation Furlong, along with 16 disqualified drivers, 11 unlicensed drivers and 22 unregistered vehicles.
There were 42 speeding offences, 14 seatbelt offences 12 drivers caught disobeying signs or signals and six found driving while using mobile phones.
Fifteen vehicles were impounded
