By Kath Gannaway
POLICE across Yarra Ranges, and across the state, will be ramping up drug and alcohol testing over the long weekend as part of Operation Arid – starting now!
Along with alcohol and drug testing, Operation Arid will focus on fatigue, speed, distraction and seatbelts, and it will run until midnight on Monday 13 March.
Figures released today (Friday) show that nearly half of all the drivers and riders who died during 2016 had drugs or alcohol in their system.
Some 206 drivers and riders lost their lives on Victorian roads last year, and 58 died with illicit drugs in their system – the highest number ever recorded.
And 43 were found to have been affected by alcohol.
Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said the increasing level of drug driving on Victorian roads was concerning, and warned road users that police would be out in force for the next four days.
Leading Senior Constable Scott Lardner from Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol backed the AC’s ‘fair warning’ saying they would have a heightened and more visible presence across Yarra Ranges.
“People, locals and visitors, can expect to be breath-tested, drug-tested and pulled over if they’re speeding or driving in a reckless manner.
“We often get calls from people drifting, so fatigue is an issue and the responsibility is on all drivers, especially if coming back from trips away.
“Break the trip up, factor in coffee stops and share the driving if you can,” he said.
Three people were killed and 150 people were injured in a long weekend last year that saw one in nine drivers testing positive to drugs.
“Drugs overtook alcohol as a causal factor in road deaths for the first time in 2014 and since then we’ve seen an increasing number of deaths on our roads due to drugs,” AC Fryer said.
Importantly, Victoria Police have very effective drug testing.
Along with alcohol and drug testing, Operation Arid will focus on fatigue, speed, distraction and seatbelts.
LSC Lardner urged Yarra Ranges drivers to stay safe and keep others safe on the roads.
Other areas identified as priorities during the operation this year are Bass Coast, Surf Coast, Wangaratta, Mornington Peninsula and East Gippsland.
“If you’re going away for over the weekend, all you’re doing is driving into someone else’s area who will be doing the same as us,” he said.
Anyone who sees dangerous driving on the road is urged to phone triple-zero.
