Victorian Road Safety Blitz: Operation Ardent II Nabs Over 1000

[caption id="attachment_38245" align="aligncenter" width="555" caption="Photo: Chris Keating."][/caption]

FOLLOWING last month's Operation Ardent, the Geelong and Brimbank districts became the focus of police attention for Operation Ardent II, conducted over the weekend.

More than 30 police vehicles and four booze buses were engaged in the three day-long blitz. Over the period of the operation, more than 1000 offences were recorded.

Of the 1139 offences detected during the blitz, 51 motorists were caught drunk driving, 266 caught speeding and 114 detected not wearing a seatbelt. A further 103 drivers were pulled over for driving while using a mobile phone and 76 were caught driving while unlicensed or disqualified.

Deputy Commissioner for Road Policing Ken Lay expressed his disappointment at the number of people that continue to flout road rules.

“I just don’t get how people think it’s ok to drive on the roads when they are impaired by alcohol at the risk of other road users, their passengers and themselves,” Deputy Commissioner Lay said.

“Drinking, speeding, using your mobile phone while driving… all of these offences are a recipe for disaster.”

“We see a direct correlation between these sorts of offences and serious and fatal road collisions. We will continue to warn motorists of these dangers while at the same time, continuing to crack down on those caught disobeying the law.”