By Belinda Nolan
BRIMBANK Highway Patrol officers nabbed almost 600 badly behaving drivers over the festive season.
Road police flooded the municipality’s streets from mid-December as part of Operation Aegis, a state-wide initiative aimed to drive down the road toll.
Brimbank drivers were among the worst in the state, clocking up a whopping 578 offences, including 41 caught drink-driving and 76 speeding.
One of the worst offenders was a middle-aged man who was caught driving – at almost five times the legal limit – after attempting to evade a booze bus road block.
Meanwhile a Keilor East man was nabbed twice for speeding in a two-day period.
The 23-year-old lost his licence for a month, along with eight demerit points and was ordered to pay more than $650 in fines.
A further 78 people were apprehended driving while disqualified or unlicensed, 42 disobeying traffic signals and 27 driving without a seatbelt.
Police also fined 21 people for talking on their mobile phones while driving.
The majority of people caught were driving cars, while 51 were behind the wheel of a truck and 26 riding motorcycles.
Brimbank Highway Patrol Sergeant Rod Stein said police were pleased that there had been no fatal collisions or serious injuries in that time but disappointed some drivers were still not getting the road safety message.
“We’re still disappointed to have 41 people charged with drink-driving offences, as far as we’re concerned it’s still too high,” Sgt Stein said.
The operation ran from 17 December and ended at midnight Sunday, with Brimbank police conducting more than 8000 breath tests.
“I think overall drivers in Brimbank were fairly well behaved but there is still that minority that completely disregard the road rules,” Sgt Stein said.
