Be alert and stay alive.
That’s the message Wyndham police want to enforce when officers join forces with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) from next Tuesday to run a 10-week operation targeting driver distraction.
Uniform and plain-clothes police will be on the roads two days each fortnight, targeting collision hotspots at different times of the day, and using spotters to notify police about drivers
who are committing offences, especially those caught using mobile phones while at the wheel.
Acting Senior Sergeant Jacob Bugeja said about 30 per cent of all accidents in Wyndham involved cars travelling in the same direction, particularly drivers rear-ending the car in front.
He said driver distraction was a major problem on freeways during the morning peak around Werribee’s CBD – including Watton and Synnot streets – and at the Old Geelong Road level crossing during the afternoon peak.
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 two seconds. At 100km/h, that jumps to 55 metres.
“We’re concentrating on distraction offences – mobile phone use, people using their radios and in-car navigation systems,” Acting Senior Sergeant Bugeja said. “We’re getting a lot of rear-end accidents and [driver distraction] is the main cause.
“People still see it as acceptable to get on their phones while driving and, day-to-day, people are sending text messages while behind the wheel.
“Any distraction is an issue, and it’s not just mobile phones. It’s also dogs on people’s laps or on the front seat of cars, people turning around and yelling at the kids in the back … that can contribute to a rear-end accident.
“A lot of the time the accidents are happening in congested-traffic situations.”
Acting Senior Sergeant Bugeja says the upcoming operation will combine enforcement, education and a visible police presence.
