Police catch speeding drivers near schools

More than 50 drivers were caught speeding near schools during a three-day blitz in Brimbank and Melton.

During a police operation targeting road safety in school zones, police fined 51 people for speeding, including five drivers who were caught travelling more than 25km/h above the speed limit.

Keilor Downs-based First Constable Aymon Dalrymple, who co-ordinated Operation School’s Back between January 30 and February 1, described the operation, which ran across Brimbank and Melton, as “highly successful”.

“Police were stationed outside highly visible school zones and used radar guns to detect speeding drivers,” he said.

He said they also enforced parking restrictions, including double parking, “such as when parents would stop their cars and let children get out on the road.”

Two men were caught as they attempted to break into a car just off Furlong Road, St Albans.

Police used automatic number plate recognition technology in Ballarat Road and found 27 people driving unregistered vehicles. Throughout the operation, 13 people were caught not wearing seatbelts, seven people for driving while disqualified or on a suspended licence, seven people were caught using a mobile phone and six people for disobeying traffic signs or signals.

Operation School’s Back will run at various times during the school year.