Five dead following four major collisions on South West Victorian roads in 11 days
Emergency responders have been offered support after a triple-fatal in Stoneleigh last week. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
In short:
Five people have died following four major collisions on South West Victorian roads in the past two weeks.
A man who has yet to be formally identified died this morning following a collision in Parwan, near Bacchus Marsh, on Friday morning.
What next?
Authorities are investigating all four of the incidents.
Five people have died following four major collisions in less than two weeks on roads in Victoria's south west.
Road safety advocates say it is another example of the need for a change in public thinking around the road toll.
The latest crash involved a man dying after a collision between a ute and a truck near Bacchus Marsh on Friday morning.
The two vehicles collided head-on around 6:25am on Ballan Road at Parwan.
The driver of the ute died at the scene, while the truck driver was uninjured.
Police are investigating the cause.
Danger on the roads
It marks the fourth major crash on Ballarat regional roads since November 11, where three people from one family died after an incident west of the city.
On November 19, an 81-year-old man died in a collision between two vehicles at Allendale, north of Ballarat.
On November 20, a driver was flown to a Melbourne hospital with life-threatening injuries following a crash between a truck and a car at Berrybank, near Lismore.
Authorities are investigating the cause of all four collisions.
An 81-year-old man died following a crash north of Ballarat on November 19. (ABC News: Charlotte Wilkes )
So far this year, 253 people have died on Victorian roads compared with 254 lives lost at the same time in 2024.
'Safety rests with us'
The founder and chair of the Australian Road Safety Foundation, Russell White, said that over the past four years, the national road toll had increased.
Russell White says the narrative around road trauma needs to change. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claire Simmonds)
"[Multiple fatalities are] something that sadly we see all too often, and tragically we seem to be seeing more of it in the past few years," Mr White said.
"In the road trauma space, it's almost perceived as a number, it's a daily report, and because of that, we sometimes get desensitised to the human impact of it."
Mr White said the narrative around road trauma needed to change.
"My fear is, just how bad does the road toll need to get before we see action on it?"he said.
"The public needs to understand that the key to road safety rests with us.
"It's not a government issue or a police issue in isolation.
"We've had great success with better roads, safer cars and better enforcement, but they're still in play and we're still seeing increases in road trauma, so it says those things are not producing the same results as we would've seen historically."
Crash impact on responders
Speaking on ABC Ballarat Breakfast Radio, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer of the Western Region, Brett Boatman, said ensuring support for the agencies' volunteers is a vital part of the first response operations.
He said Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers were offered support following the triple-fatal incident in Stoneleigh last week.
"The thing we have invested in is the well-being of our people," Mr Boatman said.
"Our district up there facilitated a debrief with all those who attended … we continue to check in with them over time."
The triple fatal has also sparked the local council to increase its request for funding to improve the intersection of Mt William and Eurambeen-Streathm Roads where the accident occurred.
Pyrenees Shire Mayor Damian Ferrari said council had initially asked the federal government for $860,000 to upgrade the intersection, but has changed that request to "$3 million for a roundabout" in the wake of the horrific crash, which killed three members of a Geelong family and left a fourth in hospital.
The Minister for Road Safety was contacted for comment.