A man has died in the second fatal crash in the remote Victorian shire of Buloke in less than 24 hours.
Police were called to a remote stretch of the Calder Highway at Teddywaddy, north of Bendigo, at 7am after a passer-by reported a car on its roof.
A man's body was found in the wreckage, which investigators said could have been there for some time before it was discovered.
The incident comes after a truck driver died when his vehicle hit a tree in Laen East — about 45 minutes' drive west — on Donald-Murtoa Road at 3pm on Wednesday.
"The families and friends have all lost loved ones and it's an absolute tragedy," said Superintendent John O'Connor.
He said it has also been challenging for the officers.
"I've had some of my members attend the first fatal yesterday and they've attended again today in the early hours of this morning."
Superintendent O'Connor said rural roads were busy at the moment as people ventured out during school holidays, sometimes driving large distances on unfamiliar roads.
"I'm pleading with drivers to slow down and drive to the conditions," he said.
"We're getting to the end of the school holidays and it's great they're up in the Mallee enjoying themselves ... but I really ask people plan and get a good night's sleep before heading back down to Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo so [they're] not fatigued."
Drivers taking risks
Superintendent O'Connor said since the start of 2023, police had caught drivers on the Mallee Highway speeding at 140kph in a 100km zone.
During Operation Roadwise in the lead up to Christmas, police issued 13,578 traffic offences — 14 per cent more than than the previous year.
"All our police officers are out trying to keep people safe," Superintendent O'Connor said.
He said they were still seeing people using their mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts, and not carrying water in extreme temperatures.
"[We're asking] people to plan their drive, take a break every two hours and make sure if you're driving [in] the country, plan for something in case you break down," he said.
"There's nothing worse than knocking on someone's door and letting them know that their son, daughter, husband, their wife has been killed in a car accident."
Anyone with information or footage of either of these crashes is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
There have now been 14 fatalities on Victoria's roads in the first 12 days of the year, 12 of which occurred in regional areas.
Transport Accident Commission (TAC) data showed the majority of those who died were men.
TAC data since 2018 also showed the number of lives lost so far was highest this year.
