Drivers in Victoria will face the state’s biggest-ever road blitz over summer, with police “locking down” suburbs and blitzing major roads across Melbourne.
Along with additional mobile speed cameras, radar guns, booze and drug buses, police will use every available local resource in a four-month campaigned aimed at reducing road fatalities during the holiday season, Assistant Commission Robert Hill said yesterday.
Mr Hill revealed that many suburbs would go into “lock downs”, which would see police officers and drug and booze buses stationed at most roads leading to freeways and major arterials.
“We’ll deploy resources, our booze buses, our drug buses, our state high patrol to a particular suburb, and we’ll lock that suburb down in what we call a ‘ring of steel,’” the Assistant Commissioner told radio station 3AW on Tuesday.
“And any vehicle moving in and about that particular suburb will be subject to a breath test, alcohol, and drug test to see if they have illicit drugs in their system.”
Mr Hill was particularly concerned about the increase in drug driving, saying that in 2013, “the number of drivers killed with illicit drugs in their system was greater than those with alcohol”.
So far this year, one in 15 drivers tested returned a positive drug test result, the majority for ice.
Police will also work closely with TAC, the Department of Justice, and VicRoads to educate the community about road safety.
“Every death on our roads is a tragedy, and we don’t want have to knock on any more doors to tell a family that they have lost a loved one,” Mr Hill said.
So far this year 175 people have died on the roads, 14 more than this time last year. In 2013, 242 people died on the roads, which was 40 less than in 2012.
“With the football finals, spring racing carnival and summer just around the corner, we are moving into a dangerous period on our roads,” Mr Hill said.
