By NATALIE GALLENTI
MELTON Police have offered dangerous drivers an ominous warning – continue to flout the law and you will be caught.
The warning comes in the wake of Victoria Police’s Summer Stay road enforcement campaign, which ran from 16 November and finished earlier this month.
The campaign encouraged motorists to stay safe or stay off the road over the high-risk holiday period.
Figures released last week reveal Melton motorists continue to ignore the road rules and Inspector Stephen Mutton said police would take a zero-tolerance approach to unsafe behaviour.
Out of the 12,351 motorists breath-tested, 21 drivers were above the legal limit, while 216 speeding offences were detected. There were a total of 99 disqualified and unlicensed drivers apprehended and 87 unregistered vehicles were seized.
Insp Mutton admitted the figures were alarming and said police would take a “three-pronged approach” to speeding motorists which would include highway patrols, speed cameras and uniform police on the beat.
“It’s a real concern but we won’t be slacking off,” Insp Mutton said.
“We’re making inroads but people are still flouting the law.”
The figures also revealed 20 motorists were caught not wearing a seatbelt, while 17 mobile phone offences were recorded.
“We’re really concerned that people continue to flout the law – it’s a culture problem.
“It will be a major focus for us…these are key drivers of road trauma.”
Figures across Victoria revealed out of the 1.2 million road users breath-tested, 2863 were over the limit while 396 had used drugs. Almost 25,000 motorists were caught speeding and over 6,000 mobile phones offences were detected.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Robert Hill said it was disappointing to see people who knew they shouldn’t be behind the wheel put other roads users in danger, especially at such a high-risk time.
“Unauthorised and impaired drivers have no place on our roads at any time of the year, yet we continue to see significant numbers detected,” Assistant Commissioner Hill said.
