Local police are sending a clear message to motorists on North East roads this festive season to cut down on drink and drug driving.

The 15-day Operation Roadwise commenced on Thursday and police will be highly visible and enforcing across Victoria’s major roads and arterials.

Wangaratta Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant David Gillespie said he had a simple message to all drivers at this time of the year.

“Separate the drinking and the driving,” he said.

“A lot of these drink driving detections, when we speak to the people who have been caught, the most common response is ‘ I didn’t realise I was going to be over’.

“There’s a miscalculation in relation to how much they can drink before they can safely drive.

“If you’re going to have a drink, by all means, enjoy the festive time.

“But have a designated driver who decides not to consume any alcohol at all and particularly don’t consume drugs.”

Police intelligence shows December is the worst month for drink driving offences, recording the highest number of drink driving detections and the most collisions where the driver was over the blood alcohol limit.

Drink driving between 0.05 and 0.07 comes with a $611 fine and 3-month licence suspension (full driver’s licence, aged 26 and over) or 6-month licence suspension (full driver’s licence, aged under 26).

Speeding detections also increase in December, coinciding with an influx of traffic as motorists hit the road to travel across the state to popular holiday areas.

Snr Sgt Gillespie said more than half of the fatal collisions in Victoria this year have occurred on regional roads, with many of them attributed to speed.

“Some people think that they can just creep a little bit over the speed limit and they’re going to get there 10 to 15 minutes earlier, the risk is definitely not worth it,” he said.

Tragically, 24 people have been killed on North East roads in 2025, up on 18 this time last year, and 282 lives have been lost statewide, which is slightly above 278 at the same time last year.

There have been 20 deaths in the first 16 days of December, surpassing the 19 total fatalities recorded in December last year.

This includes the death of four passengers of a minivan - a 17-year-old boy, a 34-year-old man, a 51-year-old woman and a 45-year-old woman - after a crash into a tree at Muckatah on Monday.

Snr Sgt Gillespie said the local force has seen common themes arise again in collisions on local roads, including low-level speeding, failure to give way at intersections and failure to wear seatbelts.

“It's astounding to think that people after all these years are not wearing a seatbelt… it's not there for decoration,” he said.

“These collisions are easily avoidable if the driver approaches the task of driving with the right attitude.”

Snr Sgt Gillespie said police would be highly visible on roads with increased traffic including the Murray Valley Highway, Great Alpine Road and Hume Freeway, but also any back road across the region.

“Expect to see police on the back roads checking for the presence of drugs and alcohol and speed anywhere, anytime,” he said.

“They're the main things that are really hurting us and we need to make sure everyone can move around in North East Victoria safely and enjoy this time of year.”

The operation will be ongoing until 11:59pm Thursday, 1 January.