Keep your eyes on the road – and your hands off your phone.
That’s the message Wyndham police have been enforcing for the past month on a dedicated operation run by uniform officers and highway patrol to target driver distraction.
Operation Focus, which wrapped up on Tuesday, detected more than 140 distraction offences, including 64 drivers caught using their mobile phones while behind the wheel – resulting in a $466 fine and four demerit points per offence.
Meanwhile, three learner or P1 [probationary] drivers – who cannot use hands free devices – were also detected using mobile phones.
TAC research has shown that a driver travelling at 60km/h will advance more than 33 metres if they look away from the road for just two seconds.
At 100km/h, that jumps to 55 metres.
Operation Focus co-ordinator Tem Hawkes said other common offences include drivers running red lights or stop signs, and tail-gating.
Senior Constable Hawkes said rear-end collisions were a big problem in Wyndham, and often happen because drivers aren’t paying attention to the road when approaching intersections or traffic lights.
He said the stop sign at the Duncans Road and Salisbury Street intersection in Werribee – which, ironically, is located at Werribee Magistrate’s Court – is a hotspot for collisions, with many drivers ignoring the stop sign and driving into oncoming traffic.
The corner of Leakes and Derrimut roads is another hotspot for collisions that have resulted in injuries.
“It’s about making sure people are focusing on the road and paying attention to what they’re doing,” Senior Constable Hawkes said.
“We still catch people holding their phone to their side while they’re driving, thinking that nobody will notice – but I can guarantee you, we see it.
“Those couple of seconds that you look down at your phone, that’s distance you’re travelling with your eyes virtually shut [to the road]. People need to pay due care and attention.”
