Just because it’s the silly season, doesn’t mean you can be silly behind the wheel.
That’s the message from Westgate Highway Patrol, who will be out in force in a 24-day operation to reduce road trauma this Christmas and New Year period.
Operation Roadwise, which started last Friday and will run until January 7, will include a number of police units on major arterials and speed cameras and booze buses across Wyndham.
Sergeant Marty Wallace, from Westgate Highway Patrol, said in particular, police would be targeting drivers leaving end-of-year work functions.
“During this road policing operation, Victoria Police will implement a strategically co-ordinated and tactically focused approach targeting the key contributing factors to road trauma – speed, alcohol and drug impairment, mobile phones, fatigue and [not wearing] seatbelts.”
RoadSafe Westgate’s annual report stated that 15 people were killed on the west’s roads and 895 people were injured – including 214 seriously injured – in 910 road collisions across the Westgate division in 2016-17.
TAC lead director of road safety, Samantha Cockfield, said drink-driving, speed and distractions were three of the major factors in Victorian road trauma.
“Around 90 per cent of crashes involve some type of human error and reducing that is a great start to reducing the number of people being killed and seriously injured on our roads,” she said.
