MALLEE road users are being urged to take care while travelling this long weekend, as the states launch their public holiday safety operations.
Double demerit points will apply until 11.59pm on Sunday for speeding, seatbelt, mobile phone use and motorcycle helmet offences in NSW.
Additional NSW police will also be deployed across the state as they patrol metropolitan and regional areas, also targeting other high-risk driver behaviour, including drink, drug, dangerous and distracted driving.
Double-demerit points will also apply to motorists detected breaching the speed limits, and illegally using mobile phones in school zones.
Victoria Police has launched Operation Scoreboard, a state-wide road policing effort to coincide with the AFL grand final long weekend, and is increasing its focus on motorcycle safety in an effort to reduce rider deaths from reaching a record five-year high.
Swan Hill police Inspector Gerard de Vries said extra patrols would hit local roads and highways in and out of the rural city.
“Officers will be conducting preliminary breath tests (PBT), focusing on driver behaviour, speed and using automatic number plate recognition technology available to us,” he said.
“People are always rushing to get to places. Often the risk sits around the low threshold speeding in built-up areas where there are more people around.
“It’s still really clear that there is a risk with high speed behaviour.”
Insp de Vries urged people to drive to the conditions, as some light rain has been forecast for the region at the weekend.
“Drivers need to adjust to the conditions, especially during dawn and dusk when visibility can be impacted,” he said. “Just because a highway is signposted 100km/h, it doesn’t mean you travel at that speed when there is heavy rain.”
Police across the state will target speeding and distracted drivers heading out to regional areas on high-risk rural roads and highways.
Police are also warning Victorians celebrating the AFL grand final that there will be zero tolerance for drink or drug driving, and motorists should expect to be tested while out on the roads this weekend. Victoria has lost 182 lives on the road in 2022, 25 higher than 2021 and trending well above the five-year average of 166.
