澳洲Unsettling Australia day road stats prompt plea to Victorian drivers as thousands busted by police

在澳大利亚中文新闻



australia"

Speeding drivers made up almost half of the offences detected by police during a four-day statewide operation over the Australia Day long weekend.

The police operation, dubbed ‘Operation Amity’ involved patrol cars remaining highly visible to motorists across Victorian roads and highways in an effort to reduce road trauma.

A total of 5,206 traffic offences were detected during Operation Amity, of which 2,261 were speeding offences.

Three-quarters of drivers detected for speeding were between 10km/h and 25km/h over the speed limit.

Furthermore, 154 drink drivers were busted after police conducted 77,058 roadside breath tests, while there were 121 drug driving offences from 2,142 roadside drug tests.

During last year’s Operation Amity over five days, police conducted 114,973 preliminary breath tests and 2,730 roadside drug tests, with 225 drink drivers and 198 drug drivers detected.

There were 211 drivers caught on their mobile phones, 79 not wearing, or incorrectly wearing a seatbelt, and 447 unregistered vehicles.

Two people lost their lives on Victorian roads over the long weekend.

The fatalities included a 59-year-old man from Wodonga who died following a motorcycle crash in Guys Forest on January 27, and an 89-year-old man from Wallan who died when his car collided with a tree in Whittlesea on January 28.

The long weekend’s fatalities bring Victoria’s 2024 road death toll to 22, compared to 28 at the same time last year.

Victoria Police issued a statement pleading with drivers to slow down as students across the state flock back to school, and 40km/h school zones return.

Road Policing Assistant Commissioner, Glenn Weir is concerned that drivers appear to think low-range speeding is okay.

“Most speed detections are for low to mid-range speeding, which suggests to us that many motorists think it’s acceptable to travel just a little bit over the speed limit,” Mr Weir said.

“What many motorists don’t seem to grasp is that speeding continues to be the leading cause of serious injury and fatal collisions – a quarter of last year’s fatal collisions were as a result of speed.”

The Assistant Commissioner reiterated that driving just 5km/h over the speed limit “significantly increases the likelihood of being involved in a collision”.

“We need people to stop being reckless and speeding unnecessarily to get to your destination faster – you’d rather arrive five or 10 minutes late, than not at all,” he said.

Victoria Police will continue to prioritise speeding enforcement, with a strong focus on school zones amid the beginning of term one of the school year.

澳洲中文论坛热点