By Yasemin Talat
Drivers are being warned to slow down and buckle up after an alarming Queen’s Birthday weekend tally of speeding and seatbelt offences.
Police flooded Brimbank roads as part of Operation Regal, a statewide road safety blitz from Friday, June 5, until Monday, June 8.
Speeding and seatbelt offences topped the list in Brimbank, with 70 speeding offences and a further 42 cases of not wearing a seatbelt detected.
Brimbank highway patrol’s Sergeant Bill Joannidis said he was alarmed by the number of drivers caught speeding and the numbers not wearing seatbelts.
“[These are] two alarming figures. Speeding contributes to collisions and vehicle occupants not wearing seatbelts increases the level of injuries when these collisions occur,” he said.
Sergeant Joannidis said Brimbank highway patrol would continue focusing on seatbelt offences.
“This operation consists of plainclothes police acting as pedestrians and observing seatbelt and mobile phone offences,” Sergeant Joannidis said. “Uniformed police will then intercept these motorists at roadblocks further up the street. Speeding will also remain a focus of enforcement with every highway patrol unit fitted with speed measuring devices, such as lasers and radar speed detectors.”
Sergeant Joannidis said mobile speed cameras would be strategically placed at high- collision locations where speed was a factor.
“Our message to road users is to slow down, especially in the winter months when roads are wet,” he said. “We also advise drivers and passengers to buckle up whenever they are in a car, as seatbelts do save lives.”
Eleven mobile phone offences were also detected during Operation Regal.
Other offenders in Brimbank included one drug driver, four drink drivers and eight unlicensed drivers; and 26 unregistered vehicles were found.
