By Esther Lauaki
Speedsters, unregistered vehicles and unlicensed drivers were among the targets of a traffic blitz during the Australia Day long weekend.
Melton Highway Patrol detected 57 speeding offences, 14 unregistered motor vehicles, 12 unlicensed drivers and nine who were disqualified, two drink drivers and six using mobile phones.
In total, 159 tickets were issued during the four days of Operation Amity, which wrapped up at midnight on January 28.
Melton police said the results highlighted a number of areas of concern.
“During this period, there was no serious injury or fatal accidents recorded in the Melton PSA,” a post on the Melton Eyewatch Facebook page said.
“But the results do indicate that we can still be doing more to remain safe on our roads.”
In Moorabool, the Highway Patrol detected 19 speeding offences, two drink drivers, one disqualified, three unlicensed and three unregistered vehicles.
Road policing assistant commissioner Stephen Leane said that while drink-driving offences were decreasing, the number of drivers being nabbed under the influence of drugs was concerning.
“We’ve been working on drink-driving for the past 30 years and I think we’re finally getting through to the majority of the community that drinking and driving is dangerous,” he said.
“We still need to work with a lot more of our community in making them understand that using drugs … and then driving is also dangerous.”
