athetic!

By Kelly Yates
POLICE are set to slam the brakes on speeding P Plate drivers in Casey after a recent trend in young motorists travelling at high speeds.
As secondary school leavers and university students wrap up for the summer break and hit the streets, police say they will be out in force to target speeding drivers in the lead up to the holiday period.
Senior Constable Allen Inderwisch from the Casey Traffic Management Unit (TMU) told the News police nabbed two P-plate drivers in two nights over the weekend travelling at high speeds.
Police clocked a Beaconsfield man last Saturday at 1.20am doing 180km/h along the Princes Freeway near Berwick.
The 19-year-old driver, who only had his licence for three months, was charged with driving at a dangerous speed and exceeding the speed limit and had his Toyota Utility impounded for 48 hours under the anti-hoon laws.
The following day police caught another P-plater speeding.
Police stopped a 20-year-old Cranbourne man at 12.30am on Sunday travelling 155km/h in an 80km/h zone on the South Gippsland Highway in Cranbourne North.
The man received an on-the-spot fine and had his Holden Commodore Sedan impounded for 48 hours and licence suspended for 12 months.
Sen Const Inderwisch said police were angered by the recurring bad driving.
“We are dumbfounded that drivers are continuing to travel at these speeds,” he said.
“It’s concerning police that young and less experienced drivers are among those we catch at high speeds. It’s just stupid.”
Sen Const Inderwisch said young drivers didn’t seem to understand the dangers of travelling at excessive speeds.
“The consequences are fatal,” he said. “There’s no doubt that if you lose control at those speeds, you certainly wouldn’t walk away from the crash.”
Two 19-year-old men were charged after a police pursuit involving a stolen car ended on foot in Fountain Gate last Monday.
The pursuit began at Ernst Wanke Road when the driver of a Toyota Tarago stolen from Hampton Park refused to pull over, police said.
The chase, which involved three police cars, reached speeds of up to 100km/h and ended about 4.25am at Fountain Gate when the teenagers left the car and police ran after them for a short distance before they were caught.
Police charged the men from Hampton Park and Endeavour Hills with theft. One of the men was also charged with being equipped to steal.
The driver was charged with reckless conduct endangering serious injury and other traffic offences.
Both men were bailed to appear at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 11 February.
During school holiday periods, and particularly nearing VCE exams, VicRoads experiences an increase in probationary licence applicants.
There is an average driver licence test appointment wait time of 6.5 weeks at one of the VicRoads customer service centres located in and around the City of Casey.