Easter period road toll rises to 13

The national Easter road toll rose to 13 as police urged holidaymakers to be careful
as they make their way home.
A young woman became the third person to die on NSW roads over the four-day long
weekend.
Her car struck a tree on Berrima Road at Moss Vale in the southern highlands shortly
after 7am (AEST) on Monday, police said.
In South Australia, a 29-year-old Torrensville man died after the car he was driving
smashed into a tree on the outskirts of Adelaide's CBD on Monday morning, taking the
state's Easter road toll to three.
A 27-year-old male passenger was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
In Victoria, a 58-year-old man was found dead in his car at Melbourne's inner
suburban Parkdale early on Monday, raising the state's toll to four.
Police said it appeared the driver had been involved in a minor accident, hitting a
parked car in Warren Road.
The cause of his death is not known, but police will include it in road toll
statistics unless advised otherwise by a coroner.
As the Easter holidays draw to a close, the national toll sits at 13, below last
year's total of 15 deaths.
In NSW, Transport Minister David Campbell said while the state's current road toll
of three was significantly down from last year's final figure of nine, any death was
too many.
He urged motorists to drive safely as they head home and warned drivers must take
personal responsibility for their on-road behaviour.
"No one has control of a vehicle's speed other than the driver," he said.
So far, there have been 528 major crashes over the weekend in NSW, with 186 people
injured.
NSW police have charged 355 people with drink driving offences and issued more than
21,000 traffic infringement notices, including 5500 for speeding.
"For motorists who are travelling on stretches of road unknown or rarely used by
them, it is vital they drive with the utmost care," the NSW Traffic Services
Commander, Assistant Commissioner John Hartley, said.
In Victoria, police have recorded 407 drink-driving offences, 25 drug-driving
offences, 711 mobile phone offences, 627 seatbelt offences and 517 cases of drivers
disobeying signs or signals.
In addition, 625 people were found driving unlicensed or while disqualified.
Victoria's highway patrol chief, Inspector Dave Griffin, was disappointed by the
high number of offenders.
"It shows their lack of respect and appreciation of other people using the roads,
and we'll catch them before someone else gets hurt," he told reporters on Monday.