By ANEEKA SIMONIS
DRUGGED drivers caused havoc on the roads, wheelie bins were thrown at motorists who were lucky to escape serious, potentially fatal, injuries, and a suspected reckless motorbike rider was rescued after a 15-metre fall during the wild Easter long weekend.
Police were out in force over the four-day weekend to prevent serious crashes or trauma.
A 22-year-old Cranbourne North man tested positive for methamphetamines after being stopped by police for driving erratically on the Princes Highway, Pakenham, at 1.30pm on Easter Sunday.
And police are still working to ascertain if the driver of a vehicle which rolled several times was affected by drugs or alcohol.
The 30-year-old male Pakenham driver was made to undergo drug and alcohol testing following the morning crash on Easter Monday on the Kooweerup Bypass. He admitted to getting behind the wheel with just two hours sleep.
Wheelie bins that were thrown at vehicles from two Pakenham overpasses could have resulted in serious crashes, even fatalities, according to police.
One vehicle was damaged after a bin was dropped from the McGregor Road overpass and struck its front windshield about 4am on Good Friday.
And police said there could have been “catastrophic consequences” if an incident just minutes earlier on a fully-laden gas tanker at Pakenham had been successful.
Cardinia Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) Detective Sergeant Trudy Neylan said an LPG semi-trailer swerved to avoid being hit by a bin which was dropped from the Cardinia Road overpass about 3.50am on Good Friday.
“It could have caused catastrophic consequences had it been struck,” she said.
Dash cam footage from the LPG tanker is being investigated by police.
Earlier that day, a Pakenham man aged in his twenties had to be airlifted to hospital after he crashed his motorbike into a tree and fell 15 metres down an embankment in Pakenham Upper.
Police said the man had overtaken several cars before veering off the road into the ditch.
He was airlifted from the scene to The Alfred hospital.
The incidents came soon after Pakenham Police Station was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail.
The attacker, who police said was probably trying to throw the bomb at the station’s front counter, is still on the run.
Pakenham Police Station’s front counter was fitted with a security screen after the attack.
Anyone with information about these incidents is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
