MORE than 300 offences have been handed out in and around central Victoria as part of Victoria Police's Operation Compass.
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The operation ran for two consecutive weekends, which started on the Melbourne Cup long weekend.
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Bendigo Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Ian Brooks said road behaviour during the operation's second phase was "poor".
"This past weekend was full of poor weekend compliance and was worse than the prior weekend," he said.
Since Friday morning operational units led by the highway patrol targeted driver behaviour that could lead to road trauma, including speed, distraction, fatigue and drink and drug driving.
Across both weekends of the operation, police detected 323 offences in the western region, including 16 impaired driving offences.
Senior Sergeant Brooks said the majority of offences were detected in Bendigo, however said it was expected as it was the largest population.
But he said there were a high number of offences detected in the Central Goldfields, Macedon Ranges, Loddon and Mount Alexander shires.
It frustrates me that these (collisions) were all preventable, the laws are in place to keep people safe and they are there for a reason.
- Ian Brooks
Police units from across the western division completed about 1800 primarily breath tests.
There was one fatal crash during the operation.
A 47-year-old woman and 51-year-old died at the scene of an accident, which occurred just after 6pm on the Northern Highway in Heathcote.
The crash occurred on Sunday night.
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There were three other serious collisions over the past weekend, all were non-life-threatening.
Senior Sergeant Brooks said all collisions were "preventable".
"The raw number of people taking unnecessary risks and the people out there that are refusing or failing to comply with the rules," he said.
"It frustrates me that these were all preventable, the laws are in place to keep people safe and they are there for a reason."
Senior Sergeant Brooks said there were no benefits to speeding or breaking any road rules.
"If people are going to disobey those laws, the consequences are going to be serious and not just from a penalty point of view," he said.
"If you are in a collision, you and your family will suffer from those injuries for many years to come.
"These are people taking unnecessary risks and there is no gain when you think about it, the risks outweigh the benefits."
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Senior Sergeant Brooks said despite the operation finishing up, police would continue to be out on the roads to ensure road users were complying with the rules.
Operation Compass ran from October 29 to November 2 and again the following weekend, from November 5 until November 7.
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