Victorian Easter drivers put on notice after shocking start to April

Apr 14, 2022

On patrol: Victoria Police will be launching Operation Compass during the Easter and Anzac public holiday weekends.

Victoria Police has warned motorists to take care this Easter, after a shocking start to the April school holidays, with five fatalities on the weekend.

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Operation Compass — launching at midnight on Thursday, April 14 — will see police flood the roads and highways across the state in a major effort to reduce road trauma.

Assistant Commissioner Road Policing Glenn Weir said “Easter is a high-risk period on our roads — it’s a major holiday weekend that attracts significant travel across the state”.

The extended operation which will coincide with both the Easter and Anzac public holidays, will conclude at 11.59pm on Monday, April 25.

“This year poses an additional challenge, with the Easter and Anzac Day public holidays falling over consecutive weekends. As a result, we’ll be conducting an extended operation this year to coincide with both weekends,” Assistant Commissioner Weir said.

Following the lowest number of lives lost for March on record last month, police are warning motorists not to be complacent during April.

“We cannot be complacent. Just last weekend there were five fatalities on Victorian roads. This follows a record low number of lives lost for March, which just shows how easily trauma can occur if we don’t all make road safety a priority,” Assistant Commissioner Weir said.

There have been 10 lives lost already this month, including five fatalities which occurred over the first weekend of the Victorian school holidays.

Police are anticipating widespread travel across the state and will be targeting areas deemed high-risk.

Motorists travelling to regional areas will be a focus, with fatalities on regional roads up almost 40 per cent on last year.

“We’ll be doing everything we can to prevent more lives being lost — expect to see lots of police, lots of police vehicles and plenty of alcohol and drug testing during this period,” Assistant Commissioner Weir said.

Police issued more than 9000 infringements over a five-day Easter operation in 2021 and will again be on the lookout for speeding and impaired drivers.

Victoria Police have encouraged motorists to use VIC SES Driver Reviver sites across the state to manage fatigue on longer trips.

For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads, visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website.