Crash spots inquiry

MT DANDENONG Tourist Road has been pinpointed as one of five high-risk accident areas in the hills.
Sergeant Tony Haining of Olinda police, in conjunction with the Belgrave police, has spent the last nine months researching the accident rates in the area.
Sgt Haining said the collision rate in the hills was unacceptable and needed to be addressed by the police and wider community.
He said that during a recent police operation in the area seven drivers were booked for speeding in a two-hour period.
Three of the drivers booked were travelling in excess of 100 kilometres per hour in a 70 kph zone and one of them was checked at 118.
“The drivers out there are just not getting the message, these speeds are just not acceptable,” he said.
Sgt Haining said that as a result of the research it had become apparent that there were five areas of high collision rates.
These include along Burwood Highway from Upwey to Belgrave, the Belgrave-Hallam Road, Belgrave, in the vicinity of Old Reservoir Road, within 500 metres of the roundabout at Wellington Road and Belgrave-Hallam Road in Belgrave South.
The Belgrave-Gembrook Road in Menzies Creek, within a kilometre either side of Church Road and the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road, from Mt Dandenong to Tremont is also a trouble spot.
Sgt Haining said one of the concerning factors in the collision rates was that almost 60 per cent are local drivers.
“The speed signs list a maximum speed permitted in ideal conditions, however with our roads in the hills, the ideal road conditions are rare,” he said.
Sgt Haining said this was only the first step in the research on collisions in the area.