Over a tragic 48 hours on Victorian roads, nine people have died and several more are in critical condition, prompting police to make an urgent appeal for drivers to “please take care”.

Two double fatal collisions in different parts of the state this morning added to four other deadly crashes across Victoria since Saturday afternoon.

Just before 12pm today, two cars collided on Midland Highway in Eganstown, near Daylesford, killing two occupants of one vehicle.

The sole occupant of the other vehicle was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with serious injuries.

Earlier this morning, two people died following a head-on collision in Melbourne’s south-east.

The fatal car crash was reported just before 6am in Clayton South, a suburb about 20 km south-east of Melbourne’s Central Business District.

Two drivers, a male and a female, who were the only occupants of their respective vehicles, were pronounced dead at the scene near the intersection of Westall Road and Rosebank Avenue.

They have not yet been formally identified.

About one hour after the Clayton crash, a 26-year-old man was found dead in his car after a single-vehicle collision in Swan Hill West.

Police believe the Buloke man, who was the sole occupant, lost control on Sea Lake-Swan Hill Road.

Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision, including whether the crash occurred overnight.

Today’s collisions follow a tragic Mother’s Day smash in the state’s Gippsland region yesterday.

A collision at the intersection of North Canal Rd and Willow Grove Rd in Trafalgar just before 6pm yesterday resulted in one fatality and left several others, including children, injured.

A 49-year-old Dandenong North woman was declared deceased at the scene.

That car’s driver, a 52-year-old man was airlifted to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition.

Two teenagers, a 19-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy, were also taken to hospital in a serious condition.

The driver of the second vehicle, a 60-year-old Yarragon man, sustained minor injuries, while his 58-year-old female passenger was rushed to hospital in a serious condition.

Another driver was killed in a single-vehicle collision on Coburns Road in Kurunjang, about 35km west of Melbourne’s CBD, just before 1pm yesterday.

Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said there were “no excuses” for the road trauma that has transpired over the last 48 hours.

“We are incredibly frustrated that in National Road Safety Week, which kicked off yesterday, we’ve seen really, really tragic and unacceptable levels of trauma,” he said.

“We have got significant enforcement operations under way, we have a real focus today on speed …yet we still see people taking completely unacceptable risks and causing collisions where they just should not occur.

“People just don’t get it.”

Weir said the predominant cause of road trauma across the state was a “single act of non-compliance”.

“Something as simple as rolling through or not stopping at a stop or give way sign, being distracted, or speeding,” Weir said.

“I just don’t know what else we can do to appeal to people to please take care.”

Police are also investigating a fatal crash in Pootilla, north-east of Ballarat, about 4pm yesterday.

It’s understood two cars collided at the intersection of Springbank Road and Bungaree-Creswick Road, killing a 43-year-old Red Lion man.

The driver of the second vehicle was not injured.

A crash near Hamilton about 4.30pm on Saturday claimed the life of a motorbike rider and left his passenger fighting for life.

It’s understood the motorbike collided with a car at the intersection of Mill Road and Taylors Road in Moutajup, in the state’s south-west.

The 53-year-old male motorbike rider was declared dead at the scene, and his female passenger was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the car, a 20-year-old Lake Mundi man, was not physically injured and stopped at the scene.

He was interviewed by detectives and released pending further enquiries.

There have been 112 lives lost on Victorian roads this year, according to the state’s provisional road toll.

From today, officers will undertake a road safety blitz targeting speeding drivers.

Police from several agencies, including the Highway Patrol unit and the Public Order Response Team, will scan thousands of vehicles with radar guns to check their speed.

“Every year we see the devastating impacts of speeding,” Weir said yesterday.

“From those whose lives are lost to their family members, partners, friends, work colleagues and emergency services who attend the scene – it ends up being many thousands of lives impacted by speeding behaviours.

“It’s not worth risking your life to get to a destination faster.”