Vic cops plead with drivers after crashes

Police are urging motorists to take care over the Melbourne Cup long weekend after a
horror 24 hours on Victoria's roads.
Four people were killed in two separate driving accidents on the Western Highway
within hours on Friday, taking Victoria's road toll to 257, 33 more than at the same
time last year.
A 48-year-old woman, her 19-year-old daughter and the teenager's 24-year-old
boyfriend were driving along the highway from Adelaide to Melbourne when their car
swerved onto the wrong side of the road and collided with a semi-trailer at Middle
Creek, near Beaufort about 11.10pm (AEDT).
Two other semi-trailers then hit the first two vehicles.
The mother and daughter, from Wynn Vale in Adelaide's north and the 24-year-old
Salisbury East man died at the scene.
Several hours earlier, a 24-year-old man was killed when his car collided with
another vehicle on the Western Highway, near Ballarat, and rolled.
Superintendent Neville Taylor urged people to carefully plan long distance trips.
"We can't keep putting up with this level of carnage," he told reporters in
Melbourne on Saturday.
Supt Taylor said people planning driving holidays over the upcoming Melbourne Cup
long weekend should plan their journey, including rest breaks.
"People think it's not going to happen to them, and it does. We've just lost four
people in the last 24 hours," Supt Neville said.
"People who are going away next weekend, please think about your trip, plan your
trip, plan your stops, don't work all day and head off late at night."
He said police would be out in force next weekend cracking down on motorists
flouting the law.