OPERATION Compass officially wrapped up on April 25 at 11:59pm, with a number of drivers in the Bendigo region caught for a slew of 'disappointing' offences.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the Bendigo Police Service area, 243 motorists were caught for a range of infringements over the 12-day period from Good Friday to Anzac Day.
This included 151 speeding offences, 11 drug drivers and eight drink drivers.
There were 24 unregistered vehicles, 13 instances of disobeying signs/signals, 11 unlicensed drivers, 11 disqualified drivers, three seatbelt offences, two mobile phone offences, seven vehicles impounded and two cycling offences.
"We've still got people that are taking unnecessary risks and putting them and other people in danger," Bendigo Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Ian Brooks said.
"The numbers of people across the state that we detect still not wearing seatbelts and still using mobile phones, they're disappointing numbers when you consider how long that message has been out there as well."
One alarming driver was detected allegedly hitting speeds of 251 kilometres an hour while on their mobile phone.
"I mean that to me is just an absolutely ridiculously stupid thing to do, regardless of how clever of a driver you are, or how good you think the car or the road is," Senior Sergeant Brooks said.
"There's no surviving at that speed."
Senior Sergeant Brooks said the silver lining was there were no fatalities this Easter, compared to last year.
"One positive that came out it is that there were no fatal collisions in our area," he said.
Senior Sergeant Brooks said there was a reduction in collisions across the state.
"There were three less than the same period last year, which based on the way that road tolls been going this year, is quite a positive outcome," he said.
"Serious injury collisions in our part of the world were also down, which again is a very positive note, but the risk-taking behaviour that was out there increased the livelihood of those things happening.
OTHER NEWS:
"So it's a bit of a double-edged sword really. It's good that the numbers are down, but it's disappointing that we're still catching people who are engaging in high risk driving."
Senior Sergeant Brooks said drivers shouldn't get complacent now that Operation Compass was over.
"Good luck," he said to lax motorists.
"We're still out there, we're still out there enforcing, we're still doing what it is we need to do to try and bring people a little bit more awareness of their road behaviours and to stop the crashes, and to stop people being involved in crashes, and potentially hurting themselves or worse, killing someone."
Across the state, almost 13,000 traffic offences were recorded between the Easter and Anzac Day long weekends.
Operation Compass, which started on Thursday April 14, and ended on Monday, April 25, targeted dangerous drivers over what was a busy period where everything was open without any major COVID-19 restrictions and people typically gathered for Easter celebrations.
"It's definitely the largest amount of traffic that we've seen on our roads in two years," Senior Sergeant Brooks said.
The April period is known to be a traditionally high-risk period on Victorian roads, and a number of lives have already been lost this month in Victoria.
Of the traffic offences detected state-wide, almost 40 per cent were for speeding, with 579 motorists caught driving more than 25km/h over the speed limit.
Police oversaw more than 182,000 roadside alcohol and drug tests, with 855 motorists caught for drink or drug driving offences.
There were 453 drivers in Victoria caught for driving while disqualified or suspended, 464 for driving while unlicensed, and a total of 1360 unregistered vehicles were recorded.
Police are pleading with drivers and pedestrians to be careful and be aware of one another, as visibility reduces and weather conditions worsen going into winter.
"The weather's starting to change, nights are starting to get longer and it's getting darker earlier, so we're just putting a bit of a plea out there for pedestrian safety," Senior Sergeant Brooks said.
"It's time for everybody to switch on and just make sure that we are paying full attention to what we're doing on the roads."
Pedestrians should make themselves as visible as they can and avoid walking down roads without footpaths or lighting. They should always wear bright clothes to make themselves seen.
"It is disappointing that police detected almost 13,000 offences during Operation Compass - that's almost 13,000 instances of people making poor decisions and putting themselves and others at risk on the road," Victorian Acting Assistant Commissioner Road Policing David Clayton said.
"Tragically five lives were lost during Easter- four of them pedestrians struck by vehicles. With worsening weather conditions and reduced visibility as winter approaches, it is imperative motorists and pedestrians look out for one another."
Senior Sergeant Brooks said all police, not just the highway patrol, will have a focus on road policing to continue this downward trending collision data.
"We'll still be out there doing what we do," he said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Download our app on iOS and Android
- Bookmark bendigoadvertiser.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter @BgoAddy
- Follow us on Instagram @bendigoadvertiser
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Google News