Almost 700 Wyndham motorists were caught committing offences on local roads over the festive season, Victoria Police statistics reveal.
Wyndham highway patrol’s Sergeant Aaron Prentice-Evans said the results of Operation Roadwise, which ran from December 13 to January 3, were unfortunate.
He said he noticed a lot more motorcyclists than usual had been pulled over, possibly because warmer weather got them out and about.
“We processed 42 motorcyclists riding with licences disqualified or unlicensed, and 56 unregistered,” he said.
“Almost 50 were processed for mid-range speeding.
“We did get some finer weather over this period and people seem to have been taking advantage of this and getting back on their bikes. Fifteen were processed for not wearing helmets, which I cannot explain. This is just sheer stupidity,” Sergeant Prentice-Evans said.
“Some advice for motorcyclists as the warm weather continues: if you’re going to use the motorbike, prepare in advance and organise your licences and get vehicles registered.”
A total of 108 penalties were issued for people in cars travelling without a seatbelt.
“This is just extremely disappointing,” he said.
“The safety messages that we’re constantly advertising just aren’t getting through. We shouldn’t have to remind people to save their own lives or prevent injury.”
He said the same message applied to the 67 drivers caught using mobile phones.
“It should be second nature for drivers to not do these sorts of things.”
Sergeant Prentice-Evans said 26 drivers had been nabbed for driving under the influence of alcohol, and 14 for driving on drugs.
In another police operation, named Montecristo, which began on Friday, Victoria Police are working with the TAC to target impaired drivers across the Wyndham and Hobsons Bay regions.
