Almost 8000 offences were detected in the first five days of Victoria Police’s Operation Compass road safety effort.
The statewide road policing operation commenced on Thursday 13 April and continued across the Easter long weekend, historically a high-risk period on Victorian roads.
The Cardinia police service area detected 56 speeding offences, 13 unregistered vehicles, 13 disqualified drivers, eight unlicensed drivers, four disobey signs/signals offences, five drink driving offences, 36 drug driving offences, seven vehicle impoundments, four other drink/drug offences, three seatbelt offences and two mobile phone offences.
Despite significant amounts of holiday traffic causing delays across the state’s roads, more than a third of infringements issued were for speeding offences.
One in every 326 motorists was caught drink driving, with police conducting 101,917 preliminary breath tests over the operation’s first five days.
Police detected 579 unauthorised drivers for being disqualified and unlicenced, and a further 837 for driving unregistered vehicles.
Two lives were lost on Victorian roads over the weekend, with fatal collisions in Elwood on Thursday 14 April and Greenwald in the state’s far southwest on Monday 18 April, bringing this year’s total to 78.
Operation Compass will continue this week, with police anticipating another busy period on the roads as the Anzac Day public holiday and end of Victorian school holidays coincide.
Assistant commissioner road policing Glenn Weir said police were pleading pleading with motorists to be patient and stay alert when travelling.
“Despite our best efforts, we still sadly saw two lives lost on Victorian roads over the weekend and police caught thousands of motorists engaging in unacceptable behaviour, putting themselves and others at risk,“ Mr Weir said.
For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website.
