DRIVERS across the New England region are still not getting the message to slow down, despite police targeting speeders in a statewide long weekend road safety campaign call Operation Slowdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Senior Sergeant Peter McMenamin, head of the Highway Patrol Command in the New England North West, said since Friday officers across the region had issued more than 150 speeding fines, a jump in the number issued this time last year.
“While we are down on crashes and injuries, we are up on speeding,” he said.
“More people are speeding, but they are being caught before they cause an accident.
“We’ve also handed out eight seatbelt tickets – seatbelt and speeding offences incur double demerits over the long weekend – and 101 tickets for different offences.”
Across the Oxley, Barwon and New England Local Area Commands, more than 12,000 random breath tests had been conducted, with 19 people returning a positive sample.
Statewide police have conducted more than 163,000 breath tests, resulting in 127 drink-driving charges, and issued close to 4000 speeding offences.
There have been more than 230 major crashes across the state, including one fatal.
On Sunday, a 50-year-old man died after his motorcycle left the road at Oallen, near Goulburn, about 11.30am.
Assistant Commissioner John Hartley, the NSW Police traffic and highway patrol commander, said yesterday that even though the long weekend was over, everyone had to remain vigilant and “do the right thing”.