By ALESHA CAPONE
MORE than 270 law-breaking drivers and a high-speed pursuit on the Western Ring Rd have kept Brimbank Highway Patrol police officers busy lately.
Senior Sergeant Rod Stein said investigations were continuing into an incident which occurred on Friday 12 July.
A vehicle, allegedly bearing stolen number plates, was seen on the ring road.
However, Sen Sgt Stein said the driver refused to pull over and a pursuit ensued.
The driver allegedly reached speeds of up to 160km per hour, before police called off the chase near Newland St in Altona.
“The driver was very much showing signs of driving dangerously and the pursuit was terminated because of high speeds and the manner of driving,” Senior Sgt Stein said.
Also on the Western Ring Rd, Brimbank Highway Patrol has prosected more than 270 motorists after a month-long operation.
“In June, we did some extra work on speeding – especially on the Western Ring Rd – as that is a high-collision zone for us to attend,” Sen Sgt Stein said.
“One of the reasons we did this operation was we looked at the previous four months of data, and there were 14 serious injury collisions and five minor injury collisions on the road in that timeframe.”
The operation saw nine cars impounded for various reasons and more than 150 drivers charged for speeding.
Twenty-five drivers had their licences suspended for reaching excessive speed limits.
In addition, the operation detected four drink-drivers, 20 disqualified drivers, 41 unregistered vehicles, 12 motorists not wearing seatbelts people and 22 drivers illegally using a mobile phone.
The Brimbank Highway Patrol also conducted a four-day safety operation in the Sunshine CBD, resulting in more than 100 prosecutions – including 22 motorists not wearing seatbelts and 57 drivers using mobile phones.
“The last thing we people want to do while driving is use mobile phones, because then you lose concentration and that’s how collisions happen,” Sen Sgt Stein said.
