A woman has been killed and up eight others have been injured in a head on crash at Runnymede north of Bendigo.

A four-wheel drive towing a trailer collided with a Volkswagen on the Northern Highway shortly after 3 o’clock.

Its understood the four-wheel drive drifted onto the wrong side of the road.

A woman sitting in the back of the Volkswagen was killed, while two others in the car have been taken to Bendigo hospital.

A toddler is among the injured.

The woman’s death comes on the same day as the police launch Operation Roadwise, a crackdown on unsafe driving across Christmas and New Year.

The road toll now stands at 279, the highest figure for this time of the year in a decade.