More than 50 driving offences detected over Australia Day holiday period

By Georgia Rossiter

Jan 30, 2022

Safety blitz: Fifty-five driving offences were detected across the Australia Day holiday period in the Shepparton, Benalla and Mitchell police service areas. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

Police detected 55 driving offences in the Shepparton, Benalla and Mitchell police service areas across the Australia Day holiday period last week.

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Just over 83 per cent of those were speeding offences.

Operation Amity ran statewide from 12.01am on Tuesday, January 25, to 11.59pm on Wednesday, January 26.

Victoria Police detected more than 2800 driving offences acxross across two-day road safety blitz.

“Disappointingly, we continue to detect a significant number of motorists flouting the road rules and putting others’ lives at risk — with almost 3000 offences detected in just two days,” Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Glenn Weir said.

Benalla and Mitchell police service areas experienced a higher rate of incidents, with 23 and 22 offences detected respectively.

In Shepparton, police detected 10 driving offences.

Asst Comm Weir said many Victorians headed to regional areas over the public holiday.

“It’s been a busy end to the peak holiday season with Victorians embracing the warm weather this week and heading to coastal locations, lakes, and rivers,” he said.

Across the state, more than 160 drivers were found with drugs or alcohol in their system from more than 28,000 tests.

Asst Comm Weir said more police would be on the road this year than before.

“Police patrols have increased on Victorian roads since the end of lockdowns,” he said.

“Motorists should expect to see more police, more often this year ... now is not the time to be complacent behind the wheel.”