ONE hundred and twenty-eight traffic offences were detected in the Mitchell and Macedon Ranges police service areas during a five-day Easter road blitz by police.
Despite police warning motorists to expect a large contingent keeping watch on roads during the Easter break, nine drink drivers and four drug drivers were caught during Operation Nexus in the two areas.
Police have issued a new warning that it will be out in force over the coming weeks in a drive to make roads safer.
Seventy-eight speeding offences – 46 in Mitchell PSA and the rest in the Macedon Ranges – were detected.
In the Whittlesea Police Service Area, 60 traffic offences were detected.
Five drink drivers were caught, and there were 16 speeding offences.
Across Victoria, there were more than 7500 traffic offences. Operation Nexus saw police targeting high-risk driving behaviour.
Police had warned motorists to expect an increased presence on the roads, recording a 19 per cent increase in patrol hours compared to the same Easter period last year.
The uplift in enforcement also saw a 23 per cent increase in the number of infringements issued over Easter this year.
Almost half of all offences detected during Operation Nexus were for speeding, with police issuing over 3500 speeding infringements – three quarters of these were for motorists caught between 10km/h and 25km/h over the speed limit.
One in every 464 drivers tested for alcohol were caught over the limit, with police detecting 316 drink driving offences from 146,698 preliminary breath tests.
A further 178 drivers returned a positive roadside drug test.
Mitchell Local Area Commander, Acting Inspector Darron Huffer said local police were kept busy over Easter, with a number of offences detected during Operation Nexus.
“Disappointingly, nine drivers were detected for drink and drug driving offences in the Mitchell area.
“We also saw a significant number of motorists detected for speeding over the limit.”
Insp Huffer said drivers are reminded that if they break the rules, their chances of being caught are high as police are out enforcing anywhere, anytime.
“With school holidays in effect, we will continue to have a significant presence on local roads and will be doing everything we can to reduce road trauma.”
Road Policing Acting Assistant Commissioner Justin Goldsmith said: “Despite our repeated warnings that we would be out in force, disappointingly we have detected thousands of infringements for breaching the road rules over Easter.”
Across Victoria, the total 7567 offences detected during Operation Nexus included:
A total of 3571 speeding offences, 548 disqualified/suspended and unlicensed drivers, 421 disobey signs/signals, 316 drink driving offences from 146,698 preliminary breath tests, 265 mobile phone offences, 178 drug driving offences from 3505 roadside drug tests, 136 vehicle impounds, 110 seat belt offences, and 649 unregistered vehicles.
There were three fatalities during the five-day operational period. It brought the total number of lives lost on Victorian roads this year to 66, compared to 81 at the same time last year.
Operation Nexus ran from 12.01am on Thursday, April 2, and concluded at 11.59pm on Monday, April 6.
