Vic: Vic police warn drivers to take care after five deaths

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2009
Vic: Vic police warn drivers to take care after five deaths

By Michelle Draper

MELBOURNE, April 24 AAP - Speed, wet weather and inattention contributed to five deaths
across Victoria in a horror 24 hours on the state's roads, police say.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ken Lay pleaded with Victorians to take care
over the Anzac Day weekend to ensure no more lives were lost.

Mr Lay said it had been a "black day" for the state.

"We've lost five people in the last 24 hours and we've got another person fighting
for their life in hospital," he told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.

"Speed, wet roads and inattention seem to be the main contributing factors."

A man in his mid-30s was killed about 3pm (AEST) on Friday when the car he was travelling
in ran off the road, into a culvert and hit a tree.

The driver, in his 40s, was flown to The Alfred hospital in a serious condition.

The accident happened on Woori Yallock Road in Nangana, east of Melbourne.

Earlier, a woman died and another was seriously injured when their car smashed into
a tree on the Princes Highway, about three kilometres east of Swan Reach, in the state's
southeast about 10.30am.

A 53-year-old woman died and two other women, aged 45 and 47, were injured when a car
ran off the Hume Freeway at Wallan and rolled early on Friday.

In another crash, about 5pm on Thursday, a 36-year-old truck driver died in hospital
after his small fruit truck collided with a B-double truck near Shepparton on the Goulburn
Valley Highway.

Only half an hour later, an 11-year-old girl died when she was hit by a Ford utility
as she tried to cross a road at Berwick, in Melbourne's outer southeast.

The crashes take Victoria's road toll to 102, compared to 104 for the same time last year.

With wet weather set to continue over the weekend, and many people expected to enjoy
a drink on Anzac Day, police are "bracing" themselves, Mr Lay said.

"We've got the wet roads, we've got the potential for people to be out there drinking
as well, and that is always a recipe for disaster."

AAP md/tnf/cdh

KEYWORD: TOLL VIC 2ND WRAP

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