Horror year of road crashes in Victoria kills 296

Victoria has recorded its highest number of lives lost on the roads in 15 years, with 296 people killed.

The death toll of almost 300 easily eclipsed the 241 who died in accidents in 2022.

The last time so many people died was 2008, when 303 people were killed over the year.

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Police said "single acts of non-compliance, or people making basic driving errors", contributed to more than half of fatalities in 2023.

Low-range speeding, lower-level drink driving, failing to obey road signs and distractions such as using a mobile phone were common in deadly crashes.

At least 10 per cent of fatal collisions had one or more people failing to wear a seatbelt, police said.

Extreme behaviours - such as driving without a licence, travelling at extreme speeds, high-range drink driving, illicit drug driving or a combination of these behaviours - contributed to about one quarter of fatal collisions this year.

Multiple fatality collisions contributed significantly to the road toll, with 14 double fatalities, four quadruple fatalities and two quintuple fatalities.

There were 124 lives lost on metropolitan roads, up from 104 in 2022, and 172 lives lost on regional roads, up from 130 in 2022.

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Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said it was a bleak year for road safety.

"The severity of collisions has been especially tragic," he said.

"Simple and avoidable mistakes have resulted in catastrophic outcomes."

Weir said police are determined to drive the road toll down in 2024.