LOCAL police have urged pedestrians to take their safety into their own hands, amid reports of seven pedestrian (fatal and non–fatal) collisions in the Wangaratta region so far this year.

Officers will be out in force throughout the rural city this week, with pedestrian safety a key consideration of the region's road safety week initiative.

With 15 pedestrians having lost their lives across the state in 2022, local officers are set to patrol high foot traffic areas throughout the rural city in the coming days, as part of an effort to improve awareness among all road users.

According to Wangaratta Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Colin Provan, officers will be highly visible throughout the Wangaratta CBD from today.

"We have a focus on pedestrian behaviour, making sure they are aware of their surroundings when crossing roads," he said.

"We're trying to minimise the number of people with earphones and headphones on while crossing the roads – it's not an offence but we just want people to look up and listen and be really aware.

"That flows into drivers as well – we'll be engaging when we see breaches, intercepting vehicles if they don't give way at crossings."

Despite the state's pedestrian road toll more than doubling from the same time last year (six), Snr Sgt Provan admitted driver awareness, particularly around road crossings installed around Baker Street in the Wangaratta CBD, had shown significant improvement ...