Break of dawn

By Lia Bichel
CARELESS drivers got an early morning wake-up call when police conducted Operation Rooster on Tuesday.
Members of the Casey Highway Patrol nabbed several bad earlybird drivers from 4am on the Monash Freeway through Berwick and Narre Warren, and the Westernport and South Gippsland highways near Cranbourne.
Sergeant Allen Inderwisch said the operation had been successful in the past and would be ongoing, conducted at random times on major roads in the City of Casey.
“Operation Rooster is aimed at reducing road trauma from morning peak hour traffic and is also about police being seen by the motoring public early in the morning,” Sgt Inderwish said.
“Some drivers have the impression that the police are not doing any traffic enforcement at that time of day so they can drive in any manner they see fit to get to work – but we are letting people know we are out on the roads at all times.”
During the six-hour operation, police detected 36 traffic offences which included five unregistered vehicles, one unroadworthy vehicle and 27 speeding drivers.
“Most speeders I came across were driving between around 20 to 25kms over the limit,” Sgt Inderwisch said.
“It is obviously deliberate driving behaviour when they reach those sorts of speeds. Some people told us they were running late for work. It concerns us that people know they are driving at a dangerous speed, but they do it anyway.”
Police also nabbed one learner who was driving without an experienced driver, not displaying L-plates and had the number plates on the vehicle obscured.
“It’s a case of a driver thinking they can get away with it,” Sgt Inderwisch said.
“We have come across some drivers who think they can avoid detection from fixed speed cameras, CityLink or from petrol drive-offs by obscuring their licence plates by covering them up or altering them with electrical tape or paint,” Sgt Inderwisch said.
“But when we see a vehicle with obscured plates we intercept it immediately and we can seize the plates.”
The fine for altering or obscuring a licence plate is $244, the fine for a learner driving without a qualified driver is $611 and the fine for not displaying an L-plate is $122.
Sgt Inderwisch said he was disappointed with the number of offences detected in such a short amount of time, but pleased that police did not see any drivers on their mobile phone or driving without a seatbelt.
“The operation certainly indicated to us that there is an issue with early morning drivers thinking they can get away with bad driving behaviour,” Sgt Inderwisch said.
“People need to know police are out there at all hours and if they disobey road rules, they do run a risk of getting caught.”