By JESSE GRAHAM
IT WAS a surprising Grand Final long weekend for the Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol, with more than 100 drivers flouting the law despite a well-advertised police blitz.
Over the Grand Final long weekend, Friday 2 October-Sunday 4 October, police in the Yarra Ranges detected 156 traffic offences, 106 of which were for speeding alone.
Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol Sergeant, John Morgan said he was surprised by the results, due to how well police had advertised their road blitz across the state.
“We set up a little laser-sight in Maroondah Highway, outside McDonalds (Lilydale) on the Sunday morning – and it’s pretty well-publicised that there’re coppers all over the road,” Sgt Morgan said.
“We got 16 in just two hours, and we ended up getting 38 for the shift – that included nine people for driving unregistered, two or three for driving while disqualified and a couple for driving while unlicensed.
“It surprises you, that it’s so well-publicised and that people just continue to speed as if they’re not going to get caught.”
He said that, with only one officer off during the weekend, the Yarra Ranges had “maximum resources” on the road.
One of the more notable cases came when police detected a driver on Swansea Road in Mount Evelyn and detected him travelling at 86 kilometres per hour in a 60 kilometre zone.
“He was all over the road,” Sgt Morgan said.
“We pulled him over and we realised straight away that he was drunk.
“We impounded his car for 28 days, we served an immediate licence suspension to him and he’ll be going to court for some very serious charges.”
He said the man, a 59-year-old Heathmont man, returned a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .190 – almost four times the legal limit for fully-licensed drivers, and is expected to lose his licence for four years.
Over the weekend, four drivers were caught for drink driving; four were booked for drug driving, though Sgt Morgan said the statistics may be higher due to late reporting.
Eighteen unregistered vehicles were detected by police over the weekend, while four drivers were found to be driving while disqualified or suspended and another five were caught driving without a licence.
In neighbouring Cardinia, 116 offences were recorded, 81 of which were for speeding alone, three were for drink driving and two were for drug driving.
Offences recorded on the Grand Final long weekend:
Yarra Ranges
- 4 drink drivers
- 4 drug drivers
- 4 disqualified/suspended drivers
- 5 unlicensed drivers
- 18 unregistered vehicle
- 106 speeding offences
- 3 mobile phone offences
- 3 disobey signs/signals
- 1 impoundments
- 4 seat belt offences
Cardinia
- 3 drink drivers
- 2 drug drivers
- 7 disqualified/suspended drivers
- 4 unlicensed drivers
- 15 unregistered vehicle
- 81 speeding offences
- 1 mobile phone offences
- 2 disobey signs/signals
- 1 impoundments
- 0 seat belt offences
