Victoria Police has made public the local statistics from their recent Christmas road safety blitz.
Operation Roadwise took place from December 18th to January 1st with 15,316 traffic offences detected statewide.
Speeding was the most-common offence recorded, with 119 drivers being handed fines in the Bendigo service area, 130 in the Goldfields region, 101 in Macedon Ranges and 85 in the Campaspe area.
Other commonly-detected offences included driving an unregistered vehicle, disobeying signs or signals, and drink/drug-affected driving.
The total number of offences recorded locally over the two-week period was:
- 173 in the Bendigo Police Service Area;
- 188 in Goldfields;
- 157 in Macedon Ranges, and;
- 165 in Campaspe
Highway Patrol units weren’t the only ones kept busy over the festive period, with officers in Bendigo responding to a number of other incidents.
One such incident occurred on December 27th at Strath Village Shopping Centre, where a pedestrian suffered serious leg injuries in a hit-and-run.
The alleged offender was arrested the following day and remanded in custody.
Police also arrested three people in relation to an apparent brawl at Epsom Village Shopping Centre.
It’s believed a 39-year-old man and two teenage boys were involved in a physical altercation with a staff member at a supermarket on December 29th, after the youths were reproached for their behaviour.
Meantime, another two people have been charged following a search of a California Gully property.
Stolen goods, machetes, ammunition and improvised explosive devices were all located on December 31st as part of investigations into a string of more than 30 offences – including an attempted armed robbery and daylight affray – which took place over a six-week period.
