UPDATE 9pm: Police have made an impassioned plea for motorists to stay safe on the road after a tragic accident near Bendigo claimed the lives of two women on Sunday.
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The deaths put this years state road toll level with last year at 239, before another fatal crash in Melbourne tipped it to 240.
Five lives were lost on Victorian roads this weekend alone.
Major Collision Investigation Unit detective sergeant Darren Williams said it was frustrating and disappointing to see avoidable car crashes claiming so many lives.
Any life lost on a road is disappointing. A lot of them are avoidable, detective sergeant Williams said.
We find that driver behaviour is at a point where they believe it just won't happen to them.
Drivers think they can get away with stupid behaviour, that they can get away with getting distracted by phones.
I think they need to understand that it will happen to them or someone else, and they will have to live with the consequences of it.
The message is: believe that it can happen to you.
There are going to be empty seats at Christmas time. Don't let it be you.
UPDATE 7.50pm: Two people have died and another two airlifted to hospital in a tragic car accident north of Bendigo on Sunday.
Two women - a 61-year-old and a 48-year-old - were killed in a head-on collision on the Midland Highway in Avonmore, between Goornong and Elmore.
Police have said the women were from the ACT and it is believed they were travelling home when their Nissan Pulsar crashed with a silver Holden around 1.15pm.
The passenger in the Holden, a 22-year-old woman, suffered life-threatening injuries.
She and the 26-year-old male driver, both from Delacombe in Ballarat, were airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. They are in a stable condition.
The Major Collision Investigation Unit from Melbourne were still piecing together the moments prior to the accident early Sunday evening.
Police confirmed one vehicle veered to the incorrect side of the road.
In the early stages of the investigation, either fatigue or distraction were the suspected causes of the fatal crash.
Neither vehicle was above the 100 kilometre per hour speed limit.
UPDATE 4.40pm: The Major Collision Investigation Unit is on scene and the highway remains closed at Lanmore Road.
UPDATE 5pm: Two patients have been taken to the Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.
UPDATE 3.15pm: The latest from police: Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a double fatality in Avonmore this afternoon.
It appears two cars, travelling in opposite directions, collided on the Midland Highway about 150m north of Lanmore Road about 1.15pm.
The driver and a passenger from one of the cars died at the scene.
The driver from the other vehicle is expected to be flown to a Melbourne hospital while emergency services personnel worked to free a passenger from the wreckage.
The Midland Highway, south of Elmore will be closed within the vicinity of the crash for some time while police process the scene.
Major Collision Investigation Group detectives are heading to the scene.
UPDATE: Two people have died in a car crash at Goornong, between Bendigo and Elmore, police have confirmed.
A third person has suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash on the Midland Highway.
More to come.
EARLIER: Two cars have been involved in a crash on the Midland Highway in Goornong.
Police were called to the scene around 1.15pm on Sunday afternoon.
Two vehicles were involved in the crash, affecting four people.
At least one person is believed to be trapped in a vehicle and the accident is partially blocking the road to traffic.
Air ambulance services have also been called to the scene.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area and police are working to divert traffic.
More to come.