Victoria Police Book 14,000 Motorists Over Easter, 17,000 Caught By NSW Police

VICTORIAN MOTORISTS clocked up more than 14,000 driving offences over the five-day Easter period, according to figures releases by Victoria Police today.

Lead-footed drivers continue to be the biggest offenders, with a full 5285 speeding fines handed out between last Thursday morning and Monday night.

New penalties and TAC warnings against mobile phone usage appears to have had a minimal effect, with 835 fines issued to offenders.

A further 835 seat belt offences where recorded, along with 543 unlicensed and 258 disqualified drivers.

A total of 511 drivers were nabbed for drink driving, and 645 motorists were also booked for disobeying road signs and signals.

The state's Easter road toll hit four, including three motorcyclists and one 58 year-old man who was found dead in his vehicle on Monday morning. Victoria's overall road toll for 2010 stands at 83 - up from 77 at the same time last year.

As of February 28 - the most recent data available from the Department of Infrastructure - the Australian road toll was 255, down 4.7 percent on the same period in 2009. The number has slowly fallen in the past 10 years, with February in 2001 counting 123 road deaths, and February this year numbering 96.

NSW Police Catch 17,000 Motorists On Wrong Side Of The Law At Easter

IN NEW SOUTH WALES, police booked a total of 17,160 motorists over the Easter weekend, with 7180 nabbed for speeding offences. 

Despite the higher number of overall offences, 460 NSW motorists were pulled up for drink-driving compared to Victoria's 511. A further 9515 motorists were fined and penalised for 'various traffic offences' over the five-day Easter period.

“That’s almost 1400 more drivers charged with speeding compared to this time last year, and an increase of more than 570 more drivers caught for other traffic offences. I will say that I’m pleased to see a drop in the number of motorists caught drink driving, from 748 to 463. However, that’s still 463 too many," NSW Police Minister Michael Daley said. 

“That’s despite police conducting more than 227517 random breath tests, 11760 more tests than last year."

The NSW road toll over Easter stands at three, compared to nine fatalities last year.