Just hours into a four-day long weekend traffic blitz, police have already begun nabbing drivers doing the wrong thing on local roads.
Operation Regal, an annual police crackdown on driver behaviour over the King’s Birthday three-day weekend, kicked off at 12.01am on Friday and will continue until midnight on Monday.
12 hours into the crackdown Bendigo Highway Patrol has issued multiple fines to speeders across Central Victoria.
Police have been instructed to target all forms of dangerous driving including speed, alcohol and drug use, failing to wear seatbelts correctly or at all, driver fatigue and mobile phone use.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Mick Hermans said that, after four road fatalities on Central Victorian roads in the last two months, it was critical that drivers pay attention to the advice.
“This may seem like pretty simple advice but I can assure you (that) the consequences can be dire,” said Assistant Commissioner Hermans.
“Our data demonstrates that many (sic) of the road trauma relates to single, often innocuous, acts of non-compliance.
“But what’s also significant about this long weekend … is that it commences the start of winter.
“With that, it presents more challenging driving conditions, and an increased risk profile for vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.”
Police also reminded drivers visiting Victoria from NSW that their home state’s long weekend double demerits system still applies, even though they are driving in a different jurisdiction.
Image: supplied – Victoria Police
