This morning South Australia Police launched Operation High Impact F5 (Fatal Five), an intensive traffic enforcement operation running for four weeks.
The operation will focus on preventing drink and drug driving in regional areas through driver education and the enforcement of road safety legislation.
During High Impact F5, there will be large scale driver testing, licence and vehicle standards checks, and large scale road policing deployments.
As a regular operation, High Impact F5 last ran from November to December 2019 after it was pushed forward to address the horror year on our roads.
Superintendent Bob Gray, Officer in Charge of the Traffic Services Branch, believes it’s important for police to target regional areas.
“Motorists in regional areas seem to feel that the risk of getting caught drink driving is low because in smaller areas, there might not be a big police presence,” he said.
“Drivers in these areas also have a short drive home, or are only taking backstreets, so it might seem excusable to them.
“But the point of this operation is to change that mentality by emphasising the fact that there is no excuse for drink driving.
“We hope to see a change in behaviour as a result of this month-long operation.”
Operation High Impact F5 began at 12:01am today, Thursday 6 February, and will end at 11:59pm on Saturday 7 March 2020.
You can learn more about the Fatal Five here: www.police.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/786785/Fatal-Five-fact-sheet-2019.pdf
