Melton police are continuing their crackdown on drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Following a successful month of Operation Torpedo, which focused on drivers leaving sports venues, and Operation Sundown, a blitz outside pubs and clubs, the TAC has extended funding for both to continue until Christmas.
Police conducted 3250 breath tests in the operations, netting 16 drivers who exceeded the permissible level of alcohol.
They also apprehended 300 drivers for “general offences”, such as speeding and driving unregistered vehicles, thanks to $30,000 funding which paved the way for 30 extra police shifts.
“There’s been a pretty good result from those operations,” Leading Senior Constable Allan Edwards said. “Instead of being tied up at the station, we can have police officers stationed on highways.”
He reminded all drivers that extra police would be on the roads for the next two months.
“In the lead-up to Christmas we run these extra operations,” he said. “We have extra resources on the road and if drivers do the wrong thing they will get caught.”
Drivers can expect to be intercepted across “black spot areas”, and especially the Western Freeway, which is a hotspot for people following cars too closely or drivers running off the
road.
“A lot of road rage incidents are reported,” Leading Senior Constable Edwards said.
He said one person doing the wrong thing could lead to even greater transgressions as drivers became angry.
The twin operations followed the release of disturbing figures, which showed an increase in collisions in the months of July, August, September and October since 2008.
