Dangerous driving dragnet drawn- Police stopped and checked a number of drivers during Operation Care. 47746

By Lia Bichel
CASEY police have been out in force to ensure uunsafe drivers are caught.
Members of the Casey Highway Patrol have been running a number of operations and are planning on carrying out Operation Aegis during the Christmas holidays.
Senior Constable Allen Inderwisch said during Operation Care in 2010, police detected 208 offences including unlicensed drivers, unregistered vehicles and drink drivers.
“Operation Care has been running for two years now and to date a total of 548 offences have been detected and 2832 vehicles and people checked,” he said.
“The Sheriffs have recovered a total of $774,650 in fines.”
Operation Juno, which is run at school zones, has also been a success with police detecting 329 offences.
Sen Con Inderwisch said 221 of the detected offences were for speeding.
The most recent operation was Operation Raid, which was one of the nation’s biggest road blitzes targeting drug and drink driving.
Hundreds of police from the State Highway patrol and operations Response Unit saturated the roads as part of the blitz, with a particular focus on 15 high-risk areas for alcohol-related road trauma areas that included Casey.
In Casey, 2931 preliminary breath tests were conducted, and police detected 24 blood alcohol offences, nine disqualified drivers, 10 unlicensed drivers, 26 seatbelt offences and 44 mobile phone offences.
Casey Highway Traffic Patrol Sergeant Pat McGavigan said he was disappointed with the number of drink drivers on the roads.
He was also disappointed that three people died on Casey roads during the time of the operation.
“These people will not get to see 2011 and their families are now devastated by the road trauma,” he said.
Sgt McGavigan said most drivers obeyed the rules, adding that some didn’t.
“Drivers who fail to heed the warning will be put off the road hopefully before someone gets hurt,” he said.
“Drivers need to ask themselves – how important is your licence – can you get by without one. If they drink and drive they will be caught at some time – maybe not today or tomorrow but with more people being tested than ever before it is only a matter of time before police catch them.
Sgt McGavigan said police would run Operation Aegis IX from 17 December until 9 January. The operation will focus on drink driving, speeding, occupant safety, driver distractions and other offences. The Transport Accident Commission has supported Victoria Police by funding overtime.