Police caught 57 drink drivers and nine drug drivers during a major road policing operation on Melbourne’s Monash Freeway over the weekend.
Operation Colossus, which was conducted over Friday and Saturday night, saw police conducting high volume alcohol and drug testing on the Monash Freeway, targeting impaired drivers.
Police detected 25 drink drivers and three drug drivers overnight on Friday, and a further 32 drink drivers and six drug drivers overnight on Saturday.
Concerningly, police have noticed a significant spike in detections between 3am and 5am during the operation.
There were 25 impaired drivers caught during 3am and 5am on Saturday morning compared to three impaired drivers between 11:30pm and 3am.
Similarly, there were a further 31 impaired drivers caught during 3am and 5am on Sunday morning, compared to seven impaired drivers between 11:30pm and 3am.
Police also impounded 13 vehicles, detected nine disqualified / suspended drivers, and issued one infringement for failing to accompany for breath test during the operation.
Victoria Police is warning motorists there will be zero tolerance to drink and drug driving over the festive period, with significant penalties for those who disregard the rules.
First time offenders who are fully licenced and over 26 years of age caught with a blood alcohol limit between 0.05 and 0.07 receive a $593 fine and immediate three-month licence suspension.
The penalties increase substantially for those under 26 years of age, those required to have a zero blood or breath alcohol level, those caught for second or subsequent drink driving offences, and those caught over 0.07 or above – including larger fines, longer licence suspensions, alcohol interlocks, attendance at court and even jail time for the most serious offences.
Exceeding the prescribed concentration of drugs while driving carries a $593 penalty and a six-month licence suspension.
Police will continue to have a major focus on drink and drug driving enforcement throughout December and January, with a significant road policing operation set to kick off next week across the state.
Operation Colossus was conducted by Southern Metro Division 3 Highway Patrol, with support from uniform members, State Highway Patrol and Road Policing Drug and Alcohol Section.
Quotes attributable to Inspector Rodney Maroney – Southern Metro Division 3:
“To detect so many impaired drivers in two nights on a major Melbourne freeway is extremely concerning.
“This indicates to us that there are still far too many people opting to drink alcohol or take drugs and then drive – this demonstrates a complete disregard for not only your own safety, but the safety of your passengers and all other road users.
“It’s evident we caught a lot of motorists off guard with this operation over the weekend – particularly during the early hours between 3am and 5am when there were a significant number of detections.
“We’ll continue to be out conducting alcohol and drug testing anywhere, anytime – so if you think you won’t be caught, think again.
“We need all road users to completely separate these behaviours – alcohol, drugs and driving don’t mix.”
