Hunter Highway Patrol cluster supervisor Senior Sergeant Tony Grace said the message in the school holidays and on long weekends was the same as it always was.

“Be patient and drive to the conditions,” he said.

However, with more children in cars and riding bikes on the road, Senior Sargeant Grace said drivers should be even more cautious.

“With more children in cars these the school holidays, people need to be more vigilant than ever,” he said.

“Obviously we’ve had a bad year [for road deaths] in the Hunter.

“There would be nothing more tragic than the death of a child on the roads.”

The Central Hunter Local Area Command, which encompasses Maitland, Kurri Kurri and Cessnock has recorded 11 road fatalities since the start of this year.

In the same period in 2015, there had been three deaths roads in the central Hunter area.

The wider Hunter has experienced 38 road deaths since the start of 2016, compared to 44 for the whole of 2015.

Operation slow down started on Friday and will continue through to Monday.

The operation involves increased high visibility patrols to combat speed, fatigue and drink-driving on the roads.

Senior Sergeant Grace said the NRL and AFL grand finals meant drink-driving was a major concern this weekend.

Double demerits are in effect from Friday through to Monday.

Offences that are included under double demerits include speeding, illegal use of mobile phones, not wearing a seatbelt and riding without a helmet.

Senior Sergeant Grace said that while the roads were usually busier on long weekends that fell at the end of the school holidays, they do expect traffic congestion this weekend.

He warned that particularly busy areas were expected to be the start of the M1 Pacific Motorway at Beresfield and the New England Highway between Beresfield and Hexham.