Police are alarmed at the number of drivers who have been caught breaking road rules during the first week of Operation Roadwise.
In the first six days of the statewide road policing operation, Victoria Police have detected 6,970 traffic offences, which is 15 per cent more than the same time last year.
Police have conducted 103,943 preliminary breath tests, with 255 drivers detected for drink driving, whilst one in every thirteen motorists tested for drugs have returned a positive roadside drug test.
Mid-range speeding between 10km/h and 25km/h has resulted in the most infringements issued (1,854), with speeding offences overall making up 35 per cent of all detections.
Mobile phone use has resulted in a costly Christmas for 444 motorists, each receiving a $555 fine and 4 demerit points.
Automatic numberplate recognition technology has also helped police to identify 496 unauthorised drivers, who are either suspended, disqualified or unlicenced to drive and should not be on the roads.
A summary of traffic offences detected during the first six days of Operation Roadwise, includes:
• 255 drink driving offences from 103,943 preliminary breath tests
• 209 drug driving offences from 2,626 roadside drug tests
• 233 disqualified/suspended drivers
• 263 unlicensed drivers
• 713 unregistered vehicles
• 2,418 speeding offences (1,854 for between 10km/h and 25km/h)
• 444 mobile phone offences
• 368 disobey signs/signals
• 202 seatbelt offences
• 170 vehicle impoundments
Police will continue enforcement efforts over the Christmas weekend, with the focus to shift to regional travel on Boxing Day when many Victorians are expected to flock to holiday hot spots across the state.
Motorists are being urged to be patient and allow extra travel time, as well as maintaining a safe braking distance, particularly around caravans and heavy vehicles.
It comes as Victoria records 239 lives lost, surpassing last year's total of 234 with over a week remaining in the year.
Operation Roadwise commenced at 12:01am on Friday 16 December and concludes at 23:59pm on Tuesday 27 December.
For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads during the festive period, visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website.
Quotes attributable to Acting Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Justin Goldsmith:
"Police don't want to be issuing fines so close to Christmas, but blatantly breaking the road rules leaves us no choice - and unfortunately we've already seen thousands of examples of this just one week into Operation Roadwise.
"Every single one of these infringements could have been avoided if people simply made better choices before getting behind the wheel. There is absolutely no excuse for drink or drug driving, for speeding, or for allowing yourself to be distracted.
"Operation Roadwise is still in force, so expect to see police and be tested when you're out on the roads. We've already conducted significantly more alcohol and drug tests than at the same time last year.
"We don't want to see any more lives lost on our roads this year, and we make no apologies for enforcing the rules - we're doing everything we can to keep people safe and drive down road trauma.
