A mother and her teenage son have died in a car crash on a stretch of Tasmanian road that has seen three serious accidents in less than two weeks.
Emergency services were called to Brinktop Road at Penna — near Richmond in Tasmania's south-east — about 5:00pm on Tuesday.
Detective Inspector Michael Smith said they found two people dead in a red Daewoo and two seriously injured in a blue Holden.
"Attempts were made to revive one of the occupants of the other car but unfortunately they were unsuccessful," he said.
"There was a mother and son, she was aged in her 50s and the son was around 16 years old."
The occupants of the blue car were also a mother and her son, aged in his early 20s.
They were taken to hospital.
Deputy Commissioner Donna Adams said preliminary investigations indicated a black Toyota Hilux driven by an off-duty police officer "appeared to momentarily drift onto the incorrect side of the road".
"A red Daewoo hatch travelling towards Richmond appears to have then taken evasive action, resulting in that vehicle being driven onto the wrong side of the road and colliding with a blue Holden Cruze," she said.
"At this stage, we don't know why the Hilux has come to be on the wrong side of the road and our priority is to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash and prepare a report for the Coroner.
"I can confirm that the woman driving the Hilux was an off duty police officer, she was not physically injured in the incident," she said.
Deputy Commissioner Adams said the Tasmania Police Professional Standards Command attended the scene last night and would "fully investigate the matter".
It is the third serious crash on Brinktop Road in less than two weeks.
A woman in her 60s died on April 30, and a woman was seriously injured in a crash involving a learner driver the following day.
'Enough is enough': Plea for drivers to take care
There have been six deaths on Tasmanian roads this month and the road toll is now at 26.
This compares with 10 road deaths at the same time last year.
On Monday, a ute rolled over near Devonport, killing a 16-year-old and critically injuring the 18-year-old driver.
Detective Inspector Smith has called on drivers to take care.
"Any fatality's a tragedy; it affects families, it affects the community, other drivers on the road."
The chairman of the Road Safety Advisory Council, Scott Tilyard, said enough Was enough. He is pleading with people to drive safely.
"To keep ourselves and other road users safe, it is up to each of us to take responsibility for our own actions on the road. Look after each other," he said.
"With the rate of fatalities on Tasmanian roads we are pleading to stop this dangerous behaviour now — don't speed, put your mobile phone away, wear your seatbelt and don't drive if you are tired or have consumed alcohol or drugs."
