Gerald Lynch
Seventy-four offences throughout Hume and Whittlesea were detected during a major road safety effort on the Melbourne Cup weekend.
Operation Furlong saw police targeting high-risk driving behaviour across the state from Friday to Tuesday, in an effort to reduce road trauma.
In Hume, police detected 13 speeding offences and three people disobeying signs or signals, as well as two disqualified drivers and one drink driver, with an overall total of 25 offences.
In Whittlesea, 16 speeding offences and seven drink drivers were detected by police, as well as four seatbelt offences and five unregistered vehicles, contributing to a total of 49 offences.
Across the state 8373 offences were detected during the operation with 13 lives were lost during the five days.
Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Glen Weir said this despite the increased efforts of Operation Furlong, the number of offences were still far too high and it was a terrible weekend on the roads.
“Despite our best efforts and an increased police presence with Operation Furlong, it has been an absolutely horrific weekend on Victorian roads – 13 lives lost is incomprehensible,” he said.
“This should be a wake up call to everyone – don’t think that road trauma can’t happen to you, because it can.
“During Operation Furlong we still detected far too many motorists doing the wrong thing – whether speeding over the limit, using their mobile phone whilst driving, or driving whilst impaired.”
