Almost 100 motorists with more than $400,000 of outstanding fines were nabbed in a one-day operation last Wednesday.
Automated number-plate recognition technology was used to track down motorists on High Street during the Melton police and Sheriff’s Office joint operation.
The operation came after August’s Operation Surrender, which encouraged residents with outstanding fines and warrants to hand themselves in.
A woman who had her car clamped last Wednesday had a total of $88,000 in outstanding fines, the highest amount of the day.
Ten people nabbed owed more than $10,000 each. Twenty-nine motorists chose to pay their fines on the day, allowing Sheriff’s officers to clear 150 warrants and recover $43,108.
Twenty-four vehicles were clamped.
Melton’s Inspector Stephen Mutton said a lot of inconvenience could have been avoided if people simply paid their fines.
“It’s quite disturbing that so many people were intercepted, considering we ran Operation Surrender to give themselves up,” he said.
“It caused a lot of inconvenience. There were a lot of parents with children in the cars with them and the parents had to be processed by the sheriff.
“Instead of choosing to deal with their problems and do the right thing, many of these people now have to deal with not only paying their fines but also the inconvenience of having their car clamped on the spot.”
There are more than 17,000 residents in Melton, Caroline Springs and Deer Park with more than 107,000 outstanding warrants, totalling $38 million.
Last week’s operation caught out eight unregistered drivers, four unlicensed drivers, one suspended driver and seven other traffic offences.
Inspector Mutton said many motorists intercepted were ‘‘high-risk’’ road users who continued to disobey the law.
He said police would continue similar operations in coming months.
Anyone seeking information about outstanding warrants can contact their local police station or call Civic Compliance Victoria.
» Civic Compliance Victoria: 9200 8222.
