Police from the state highway patrol will join local officers from today in a bid to reduce road trauma, with the Labour Day weekend one of the riskiest periods for motorists.

The Wangaratta region, which includes the Alpine and Moira shires, is the worst in the state for road fatalities and injuries.

Nine people were killed and almost 200 injured across the state during the period last year, which Wangaratta Sergeant Darren Wittingslow does not want to see repeated.

“The biggest cause of road trauma is recreational motorbike riding, particularly up towards Beechworth and in the Alpine areas,” he said.

“That generally occurs on the Saturday and Sunday as people come up on Friday, do their riding over the weekend, and get themselves into trouble.

“It’s usually a very busy long weekend and the weather will be nice, so people will flock up here.”

Police from the state highway patrol will work with local officers in marked and unmarked cars to target drivers and motorbike riders as part of Operation Arid.

“Lots of drug and alcohol testing will take place over the long weekend,” Sergeant Wittingslow said.

“Any recreational drug use will show up for at least a couple of days after use.

“We just want to get the message out there for people to be safe and be mindful of other road users.”