Police have had their work cut out for them over the Christmas period cracking down on dangerous drivers.
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Murrumbidgee District Police officers were out in force during Operation Safe Arrival, which started on December 21 and ended on January 1.
Highway patrol endured the scorching heat and took a total of 10,447 breath tests throughout the Murrumbidgee Police District.
On December 27 they caught a driver with a high range blood-alcohol reading doing a burnout, and on December 29 they found another driver doing a burnout despite having a suspended licence.
A total of 23 people were caught driving without seatbelts and one driver tried to trick police with a fake licence.
It didn’t work.
Officers caught 209 drivers speeding and they issued another 190 tickets for infringements such as not using indicators or driving with faulty headlights.
Murrumbidgee Highway Patrol supervisor sergeant Jason Hinson said the uptick in dangerous driving was not too unusual given the time of year.
“Driver behaviour was generally quite good, however there’s still that small element in the community that think the rules don’t apply to them,” Sergeant Hinson said.
“Most of the people I dealt with were really lovely - mums and dads doing the right thing during the holidays - but there are a few people who think they can do whatever they want and get away with it.”
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Throughout the rest of NSW there were a total of seven deaths on the roads, 759 drink-driving charges, 11,812 speeding offenses, 20,238 miscellaneous infringements, and 541,059 breath tests for Operation Safe Arrival.
Traffic and Highway Patrol Command assistant commissioner Michael Corboy said young men had been the worst offenders over the Christmas period.
“Right across the Operation Safe Arrival period I have noticed consistent number of younger men in their twenties being detected driving vehicles at high speed,” Assistant Commissioner Corboy said.
“Every time you take control of a vehicle there is a certain amount of risk involved and when you exceed the speed limit in such a dramatic way, that risk becomes exponential.”
But overall 2018’s Operation Safe Arrival went a lot smoother than 2017’s, which saw 28 people die on NSW roads; one woman lost four family members in a single crash on Boxing Day.
“For her and her family, no holiday or family event will ever be the same,” Assistant Commissioner Corboy said.
“Every time we take control of a vehicle we should remember how our actions could impact others.”
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
