Almost 9000 traffic offences were detected by Victoria Police during the statewide Operation Furlong over the Melbourne Cup long weekend.
The six-day road policing blitz focused on enforcing speed limits, as well as roadside alcohol and drug testing, as police looked to clamp down on high-risk driving behaviour.
One in every 487 drivers who were breath tested were caught over the legal blood alcohol limit, with 337 drink driving offences detected from 164,170 preliminary breath tests.
Included in the offenders was a 34-year-old man from Frankston South who allegedly returned a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) reading of 0.261, more than five times the legal limit, when he was stopped in Tyabb on Wednesday 4 November. This resulted in an immediate loss of his driver’s licence for 12 months, his vehicle impounded for 30 days and a future date with the magistrate.
A further 220 drug driving offences were detected from 3398 roadside drug tests – a strike rate of one in every 15 drivers testing positive to drugs.
With the summer months on the horizon, Police are urging motorists to remain vigilant behind the wheel by sticking to speed limits, taking plenty of breaks on long trips and avoiding distractions like using mobile phones while driving.
The total 8908 offences detected during Operation Furlong included:
- 3893 speeding offences
- 746 unregistered vehicles
- 382 disqualified/suspended drivers
- 270 unlicenced drivers
- 515 disobey signs/signals
- 337 drink driving offences from 164,170 preliminary breath tests
- 418 mobile phone offences
- 220 drug driving offences from 3398 roadside drug tests
- 151 vehicle impoundments; and
- 153 seatbelt offences
Operation Furlong ran from 12:01am on Friday 30 October to 11:59pm on Wednesday 4 November.
For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads, visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website.
Quotes attributable to Acting Road Policing Assistant Commissioner, Peta Barrett:
“This has been a harrowing week on Victoria’s roads with everyone deeply saddened by the fact that ten people have lost their lives in road traffic collisions throughout this operation – highlighting just why we do these types of operations and how important they are.
“The results speak for themselves with nearly 1,500 driving offences per day committed during the six-day operation.
“Enforcement is an integral part of our aims to keep people as safe as they can be on the road.
“Alongside this, our efforts when it comes to education and engagement are also huge factors in what we are trying to achieve. We want every single person on our roads, whether they live, work or visit this state, to get home safely.
“Take a moment to consider your actions – speeding, drink / drug use, seatbelts, mobile phones – all have fatal consequences.
“Our fleet of alcohol and drug testing vehicles will be out conducting testing anywhere, anytime, and at every opportunity.”
Want to help make Victoria’s roads safer every day? Put yourself forward and visit police.vic.gov.au/police-officer-careers for more information.
