Officers have made a desperate plea for motorists to slow down, take breaks and stay alert after the road toll climbed to 64 across the Western Region – up from 42 deaths this time last year.

In the New England North West, 23 people have lost their lives this year – 11 more than the same time in 2015.

It comes after Friday’s horror head-on the Newell Highway near Moree which killed a man and a woman.

The 48-year-old woman was behind the wheel of the light rigid truck which slammed head-on into an oncoming semi-trailer, driven by a 61-year-old man.

Both truck drivers died at the scene, which shut the highway for more than 10 hours.

“This is 64 families that have lost someone, someone is not coming home,” Head of Western Region Highway Patrol Inspector Peter McMenamin said.

“It’s a huge impact on the families, the emergency services that attend, the other motorists who are witness to it, or involved in it, their close family and friends.”

Friday’s double fatal was just the start of a deadly weekend with five people killed over the weekend across the Western Region and comes on the back of a fatal near Narrabri last week, and a double fatal on the New England Highway south of Uralla, earlier this month.

In the Barwon command, three people lost their lives last week – up from zero for the 2016 toll.

In New England, 11 people have been killed on the roads – eight more than this time in 2015.

In Oxley, nine people have died in crashes compared to seven this time last year.

Inspector McMenamin said the rising road toll had police on high alert.

“The majority of these crashes when you’re looking at the base cause, a lot of them are still when the drivers are not complying with basic road rules,” he said.

“Speed, inattentiveness, fatigue, it’s the same issues that keep coming up in crashes.”

Inspector McMenamin said officers would ramp up patrols and saturate the roads in a bid to ensure motorists stay in control.

“You’re better off arriving a couple of minutes late and alive and ensuring your families can enjoy many, many years together,” he said.

“The driver has a huge responsibility, you are in control of that vehicle, whether through a deliberate action, a small error or inattentiveness, that vehicle can become a lethal weapon that can kill in a split second.”