By TOM HAYES

 

A TWO-day traffic operation held in Traralgon ahead of the King’s Birthday long weekend has provided confronting results.

Led by First Constable Daniel Noy, the operation brought further attention to the rise of distracted drivers.

“There is no secret with the road toll at the moment how bad it is, it’s probably been bad for a good couple of years,” First Constable Noy said.

“At this level, at uniform, we’ve probably noticed a trend of people being distracted whilst driving, so whether that’s a mobile phone, or it’s kids in the back seat, not wearing a seatbelt, it’s a big problem.

“The stats show that most of the accidents – there’s been some sort of distraction that has led to what’s happened.”

As winter has now set in, extra caution on the roads is a must, with wet, slippery roads becoming more common throughout the state.

Across just two days, uniformed officers from the Traralgon Police Station, as well as Highway Patrol, issued 76 infringement notices – 57 of which were due to people using a mobile phone whilst operating a vehicle.

Making up the other 19 infringements were failing to stop at an amber/red light (eight), failing to wear a seatbelt (four), and other traffic offences (seven). Eight defect notices were also handed out to those driving unroadworthy vehicles.

“I didn’t think it would be as skewed toward mobile phones, I thought maybe 20 per cent of those tickets would be mobile phones, but not over half,” First Constable Noy said.

“It just shows that there is a problem with (mobile phones).”

The penalty for using a mobile device while driving is a $577 fine and loss of four demerit points.

“There is consequence if you keep doing it, you could lose your licence… if you keep going down that path,” First Constable Noy added.

Due to the results of the operation, First Constable Noy and Sergeant Jodi Thoroughgood believe the operation should run again.

“Looking at the results, and obviously we did two days – the second day didn’t get any better,” First Constable Noy said.

“It’s definitely something we’ll do again,” Sergeant Thoroughgood added.