Road safety will remain a key priority for Victoria Police heading into 2025 following another devastating year on the state’s roads.
There were 282 lives lost in 2024 compared with 295 in 2023.
“It’s been another challenging year on Victoria’s roads – not only is the sheer number of lives lost devastating, but the increase in fatal collisions overall has been particularly concerning to us,” Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said.
“Let’s not forget, these are not just numbers we are talking about, but human lives: these are people who will be mourned by their loved ones for many years to come.”
While the number of lives lost is slightly below 2023, concerningly there has been an overall increase in the number of fatal collisions.
There has been a six per cent rise in single fatal collisions, with 256 in 2024 compared with 241 in 2023.
However, there was a significant decrease in the number of multiple fatality collisions, with 13 double fatalities in 2024 compared with 2023 which saw 14 double fatalities, four quadruple fatalities and two quintuple fatalities.
Vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists and e-scooter riders made up 45 per cent of all lives lost on Victorian roads in 2024.
There were 66 motorcyclists killed compared with 53 in 2023.
Pedestrians accounted for 47 deaths compared with 44 in the previous year.
Driver fatalities made up 45 per cent of all lives during 2024, with 126 driver deaths compared with 128 in 2023.
There were 133 lives lost on metropolitan roads, up from 123 in 2023. A total 149 lives were lost on regional roads, down from 172 in 2023.
November was the deadliest month on Victoria’s roads with 35 lives lost during the month.
Police have identified single acts of non-compliance or people making basic driving errors contributed to more than half of fatalities in 2024.
These are behaviours such as low-range speeding, lower-level drink driving, failing to obey road signs and distraction, like using a mobile phone while driving.
More than 20 people killed in vehicle collisions weren’t wearing a seatbelt.
“Again, we have seen so many examples of simple and avoidable mistakes that have resulted in catastrophic outcomes,” AC Weir said.
“It is a stark reminder of the responsibilities we all have as road users, to keep ourselves, our passengers and all other road users safe.”
Extreme behaviours such as driving without a licence, travelling at extreme speeds, high-range drink driving, illicit drug driving or often a combination of these behaviours contributed to approximately a quarter of fatal collisions in 2024.
Police are determined to drive down road trauma in 2025 and are urging all road users to consider their actions and behaviours when getting behind the wheel.
“As we head into the New Year, we’re urging everybody to take this opportunity to consider your behaviour on the roads and what you can do to contribute to making our roads safe,” AC Weir said.
“Road safety is everyone’s responsibility – whether that be slowing down and travelling at the speed limit, not driving after consuming alcohol or drugs, avoiding distractions like mobile phones and ensuring everyone is wearing a properly fitted seatbelt.
“It’s up to all of us to ensure road safety remains paramount in the year ahead – we don’t want 2025 to be a year remembered for all the wrong reasons.”
Victoria Police will continue to work closely with its road safety partners to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions.
Road policing enforcement will continue to be a priority, with a number of operations to be conducted throughout the year both during high-risk periods but also at random, in-line with an ‘anywhere, any time’ deterrent approach.
The 2024 figures released on 1 January are provisional only.
For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads, visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website police.vic.gov.au/road-safety
