HAMILTON police have called for drivers to prioritise safety after multiple road collisions – including a fatality in Port Fairy – and drink driving incidents over the past few days.

On Saturday, November 9, at 7pm, a collision occurred north of Glenthompson when a 26-year-old Hamilton woman, an adult passenger and three children were involved in a single-vehicle crash into a tree.

Hamilton Highway Patrol unit commander, Sergeant Darren Smart said the Highway Patrol unit and uniform members attended the scene.

“There was some serious injuries sustained by some occupants and children in the car,” he said.

“Thankfully, they seem to be non-life threatening.

“They were taken to Ballarat Hospital for medical care.

“Investigations are ongoing concerning the circumstances of the crash.”

Sgt Smart said another collision occurred on Monday morning on the Hamilton-Chatworth Road and Tarrington-Strathkellar Road intersection, which was also attended by uniform officers.

He said two males were taken to the Hamilton Hospital and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Hamilton Police along with the Portland and Warrnambool Police units also attended a fatal collision in Port Fairy on Monday afternoon after two cars collided near the intersection of Hamilton-Port Fairy and Blackwood roads about 3pm.

One driver, who was yet-to-be-formally identified, died at the scene and the driver of the other car was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The exact circumstances surrounding the collision were yet to be established and the investigation remained ongoing.

The state road toll was now 245 lives lost on roads this year, compared to 251 lives lost on roads this time last year.

There has been a surge in fatalities on south-west Victoria roads since the end of last month, including a double fatality at Tower Hill when a truck veered off the Princes Highway and ran into two elderly residents’ home.

Only days after this incident, on October 27, there was a fatality at Caramut of a 20-year-old Warrnambool man after his car rolled over – and then another fatality of a female driver near Streatham, who was involved in a two-vehicle collision.

There were also a number of incidents over the weekend concerning impaired drivers on local roads.

At 11.39pm on Saturday, Hamilton Police intercepted a 26-year-old Warragul man who was caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .133, over two times the legal limit; his licence was immediately suspended for 12 months and the vehicle was impounded.

This was followed by a 21-year-old New Zealand man who was caught drink driving with a BAC reading of .102 at 3.50am on Sunday morning in Hamilton, and had his licence immediately cancelled and disqualified for 10 months.

Sgt Smart said it was very concerning to see the number of road safety incidents that have occurred recently in the south west.

“At the moment, we are seeing way too many collisions and too much road trauma, a lot caused by people making poor decisions and not having regard for other road users, themselves or their own families,” he said.

“We would like to inform people to do the right things, obey speed limits and don’t drive impaired and play their part in road safety.”