Speed, seatbelts and drink and drugged driving were targeted during high visibility patrols conducted by Northern Territory Police across the Top End overnight.
Officers of the Northern Traffic Operations Unit arrested five drivers for drink driving and one male driver who returned a positive reading for Drive with a Drug in body, exceeding the speed limit, driving unlicensed and Plates calculated to deceive.
“Officers stopped a male driver who was detected travelling 136kmph in a 100kmph zone. The driver returned a positive result for methamphetamine and the registration plates were found to belong to a different vehicle to the one he was driving,” said Assistant Commissioner Narelle Beer, Regional Operations and Road Policing
“Police are imploring our drivers not to drive when they have alcohol or drugs in their system and to ensure everyone in the vehicle is wearing a seatbelt before the car moves.”
Police issued multiple traffic infringements and Noticed to Appear to motorists for excessive speeding, drink driving, driving unlicensed and unregistered and in one instance – arresting a recidivist offender for driving disqualified.
“Officers identified a number of shocking traffic offences by motorists during the operation,” said Assistant Commissioner Beer
“In one instance officers had to contact a truck driver via UHF to advise of a vehicle attempting to overtake the road train via a large painted turning island.
“In another, a female driver was found driving with six unrestrained children in the vehicle, two children were alleged to have been sharing a seatbelt and another two were sitting in the rear foot-wells.”
“These incidents come a year after in which we experienced the highest number of road deaths in the past nine years in the Northern Territory. We’re only in the second month of 2019 and already six people have died on our roads.”
“It’s simply unacceptable traffic offences such as these continue to threaten all Territory roads users. Police will explore if there is a need to enhance our legislative options in order to ensure those drivers who continue to disregard our road laws and put lives at risk are not in a position to drive on our roads.”
