Taking care behind the wheel to look after yourselves and others is the poignant message of Wangaratta’s senior highway patrol officer this weekend.

The appeal comes as police launch Operation Arid on Friday, a statewide road policing effort targeting high-risk driving and traffic offences across the Labour Day long weekend.

March is widely recognised for its packed calendar of major events, festivals and sporting fixtures across metropolitan and regional Victoria, particularly in the North East.

But police say it also has historically recorded the highest levels of road trauma in the state.

Wangaratta Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant David Gillespie said local police would be using everything at their disposal this weekend to catch out motorists who flout the law.

“We ask that people understand that there'll be an increased volume of traffic and we need to make sure we're all patient on the roads, we're all looking out for one another and we call out poor behaviours,” he said.

“[Last year] we continued to see poor judgement by drivers making decisions which were absolutely avoidable.

“Some people try and bite off more than they can chew and become fatigued.

“We need to make sure that everybody enjoys this weekend and gets to their destination safely.”

Snr Sgt Gillespie said there had been 33 collisions on North East roads already this year, which have led to hospitalisations.

Upon investigating the incidents, Snr Sgt Gillespie said the causations are all too familiar with the force.

“They continue to impact the community significantly,” he said.

“It’s obvious there are decisions made that could have been made to avoid the collision altogether.

“Decisions such as not increasing your speed too much, paying attention at intersections, wearing seat belts, not drink or drug driving.

“A lot of these collisions are avoidable and they're avoidable if people make the right decision and are conscious about the responsibility that they need to undertake when driving a motor vehicle.”

Police data shows March recorded the highest number of collisions in 2025, with more than 1600 collisions resulting in injuries across the month – 23 of which were fatal.

Collisions in March peaked over Labour Day weekend, increasing 15 per cent on the same period the previous year.

Rear end collisions were the most common collision type over Labour Day weekend last year, with police urging motorists to avoid being complacent behind the wheel.

Snr Sgt Gillespie also urged motorists in the high country or four wheel driving to be wary of motorcyclists in the region looking to make use of the favourable weather.

There have been 38 lives lost so far this year on Victorian roads, down on 59 lives lost this time last year.