![Peel Highway Patrol dished out more than 400 fines over King's Birthday weekend Peel Highway Patrol dished out more than 400 fines over King's Birthday weekend](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205515339/5f3017c7-7788-4893-acb3-39282b40457e.jpg/r0_0_4444_2963_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
New England and Oxley police have wrapped up a bittersweet long weekend.
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There were no fatal crashes, but drivers continued to push their luck, Peel Highway Patrol manager Inspector Kelly Wixx said.
Throughout the four-day operation Peel Highway Patrol officers interacted with almost 4000 motorists and handed out 439 fines for driving offences.
Inspector Wixx told the Leader the fact we did not have any serious injuries or fatal collisions was "more good luck than anything else".
"The number of people we detected breaking the road rules just continues to be a source of frustration," she said.
Offences ranged from speeding and drink driving, to drivers caught with drugs in their system, mobile phone detection, and not wearing a seatbelt.
A 24-year-old driver was detected with both cannabis and meth in his system after he was stopped on Werris Creek Road near Warral for a random breath test.
And a 17-year-old driver was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, June 8, for speeding and driving with a suspended licence. Officers pulled him over after they detected him driving at 167km/h on the New England Highway, at Goonoo Goonoo.
"People have such disregard for their own safety and that of others," Inspector Wixx said.
"But then they have the nerve to say, 'I need my licence for work' or 'I need my licence to get around'.
"And yet they still commit offences where police have no choice but to take action."
As much as New England Oxley police continue to educate drivers on road safety, Inspector Wixx said "the message is not getting through".
It's an issue the state government should look at, she said.
"The government needs to look at how to reward good driver behaviour, we can only enforce the rules the NSW government set out."