Bendigo Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Ian Brooks said 397 offences were recorded in the region during Operation Arid.

From about 3500 breath tests across the four days, 20 people were detected driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Read other news:

Senior Sergeant Brooks said a large proportion of the offences were people caught not wearing a seatbelt.

"We have seen an increase in that offence across the state," he said. "There is no set pattern in terms of age group or demographic or type of vehicle.

"These people are just choosing to not wear a seatbelt. It's very much a concern to everyone."

Senior Sergeant Brooks said there were also three serious injury collisions at the weekend, with two of the crashes the result of people breaking the law.

"It was disappointing to see that many offences," Senior Sergeant Brooks said. "I would be really happy if we struggled to find people but that's never going to be the case.

Read more: Labour Day weekend will see Victoria Police carrying out Operation Arid

"It comes down to people taking unnecessary and unwelcome risks. People need to understand road safety is a whole of community responsibility.

"We can see there are quite a few people who don't care. That, to me, indicates they are putting everyone at risk."

Senior Sergeant Brooks said police would continue to monitor the roads, even though Operation Arid had finished.

"It's still business as usual," he said. "Our cars will still be out there enforcing road safety. On top of that, we will be conducting specific operations around those areas of concern."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: