POLICE are warning drivers to take greater care in the fog after a string of dangerous incidents in Wodonga.
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In one concerning case, a driver sped off from officers in Smythe Street early Saturday morning in thick fog.
Senior Constable Neil Hobbs said someone in a small red hatch – possibly a Ford Focus – had stopped while travelling south on Smythe Street about 2.45am.
The driver had been picking up a young man wearing a backpack, who may have come from a house party in Batt Avenue.
The vehicle sped off with the back door open, leaving the would-be passenger on the side of the road, and sped the wrong way down Elgin Boulevard.
It was last seen travelling at high speed on Watson Street with no lights on.
Police returned to Smythe Street but the man with the backpack had fled, and officers are appealing for information to track down the driver.
Senior Constable Hobbs said it was one of four incidents on Saturday morning that had left police “appalled”.
“Earlier that morning on the Kiewa Valley Highway, we detected a driver overtaking two cars in fog,” he said.
“The two cars were driving to the conditions at 60km/h, but the other man had total disregard for the conditions on the road and no respect for the passenger in his car, which was his wife.
“Visibility was down to about 10 metres.”
Police also caught a probationary driver travelling at 92km/h in thick fog on the highway a short time later.
A 22-year-old man was also caught driving a car with no windscreen wiper on the driver side, missing lights, sharp protrusions coming from the vehicle and frayed seatbelts.
His window was halfway down and was being held up by tape, with the 23-year-old wearing snow gloves to keep warm.
“We were just really appalled and just in awe,” Senior Constable Hobbs said.
“We’re just trying to drive home the message for people to drive to the conditions, not the speed limit.”
He is also seeking witnesses to the Smythe Street and Kiewa Valley Highway incidents on (02) 6049 2600.