POLICE in the Oxley Local Area Command are fairly satisfied with driver behaviour during the statewide Operation Safe Arrival, with fewer people at this point in the operation having been booked for drinking and driving compared to last year .
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“I was looking at (figures) this morning and I was thinking ‘it’s not bad’,” Tamworth Police Acting Inspector James Parsons told The Leader yesterday.
But while it’s been relatively quiet on our roads, two children were hurt in separate incidents on Christmas Day.
In Inverell, a two-year-old boy suffered a minor head injury when he walked underneath a trampoline being used by others.
In Moree, a boy, nine, was bitten on the leg by a dog and taken to Moree hospital in a stable
condition.
Acting Inspector Parsons said that up until midnight on Christmas Day, 1299 breath tests had been conducted in the Oxley LAC since Operation Safe Arrival started at midnight on Friday, December 21.
Four drink-driving charges had been laid, he said.
One was a high-range PCA, two were mid-range and another low-range.
“In comparison to last year (at this point) they’d only done 200 more breath tests but charged nine drivers,” Acting Inspector Parsons said.
Oxley LAC police had also issued a number of traffic infringement notices for speeding and other safety-related offences, for example, not wearing a seatbelt, he said.
Operation Safe Arrival continues until midnight on Friday, January 4.
The operation targets speeding, drink-driving, seatbelt and other traffic offences.
Double-demerit points are in place until midnight on Tuesday, January 1 for speeding, seatbelt and helmet offences.
Acting Inspector Parsons said Highway Patrol officers in Oxley LAC were being assisted by general-duties officers during the operation.
“Police are encouraged by the relatively low number of drink-driving offences; however, even one is unacceptable,” Acting Inspector Parsons said.
“During the festive season, motorists need to ensure they’re complying with all traffic laws because police will remain out in force.”
Three people died on the state’s road yesterday morning, bringing the road toll during Operation Safe Arrival to five.
One man died in an early-morning, two-vehicle crash at Marsden Park, in Sydney’s west, while, in southern NSW, two passengers in a Nissan 4WD died at the scene when it rolled on the Hume Highway, 6km north of
Holbrook.