Northern Territory Police were out in force on the roads over the Easter long weekend and the results were a mixed bag.
Historically, the Easter period sees a large number of people travelling on Territory roads to holiday destinations across the NT; this increases the risk of road trauma. To prevent road trauma and enhance road safety, police from the Territory Road Policing Division maintained a highly visible presence on Territory roads across the long weekend.
While the majority of Territorians followed road rules, some failed to comply.
The Territory Road Policing Division presence was felt from Darwin through to Alice Springs, with a total of 1,912 random breath tests conducted and 34 people testing positive. The highest reading was a driver in Alice Springs who returned a result of 0.234. Of the 121 drivers subjected to a roadside drug test, 24 drivers tested positive for drug driving.
On 31 March, police detected a vehicle travelling at 132 kilometres per hour in an 80 kilometre zone. The driver was issued a $1,500 fine. In a separate incident, police issued an infringement notice to a motorcyclist traveling through Adelaide River when the rider was observed travelling at 179 km/hr in a 130 km/hr zone.
On the same day, police observed a vehicle fail to give way to other motorists on a roundabout at Nightcliff narrowly missing the other vehicles. The driver was stopped and subjected to a breath and drug test. The driver tested positive for drugs. A search of his vehicle located a small quantity of illicit substances. The driver was arrested for drug driving, driving unlicensed, and driving an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle and possession of drugs.
On 1 April, a woman was stopped along Stuart Highway, Hayes Creek, for the purpose of a random breath and drug test. She returned a positive result for drug driving. A search of her vehicle resulted in the seizure of a small quantity of illicit substances.
On the same day, a motorcyclist was stopped for hoon related offences. The rider was subjected to a random breath test and random drug test, where he returned a positive reading for drugs. Police seized the motorcycle under the anti-hooning legislation, and the rider was subsequently arrested.
Just after 7:30pm on 1 April, members of the Southern Traffic Operations observed a silver Holden Commodore doing burnouts on Todd Street. The vehicle sped off before police could stop it. A short time later, police received reports of the same vehicle driving erratically through the CBD; it was soon after stopped by police. A 16-year-old driver was found to be unlicensed, and the vehicle was unregistered. The youth will be dealt with under provisions of the Youth Justice Act 2005 and the vehicle was seized for 48 hours under the anti-hoon legislation.
Territory Road Policing Superintendent Daniel Shean said. "While 80 per cent of drivers who were subjected to a random drug test were negative, there was still 20 per cent who tested positive. This is a major concern.
"Across the weekend we saw a lot of complacency around road worthy vehicles, the lack of seatbelts and speeding. All of these are factors into the fatal 5.
"Since Thursday last week, 3 Territorians were sadly lost on our roads. We are currently sitting at 18 lives lost, compared to 3 this time last year. The stark increase of fatalities this year already is a sobering reminder of the urgent need for the wider community to take road safety seriously.
"Members from the Territory Road Policing Division are reminding Territorians that they could be anywhere at any time, detecting and enforcing the Fatal Five: Speed, alcohol and illicit drugs, failure to wear a seatbelt, fatigue and driver distraction."
