Officers from Prahran Highway Patrol conducted an extensive two-day alcohol and drug testing blitz, Operation Gandolf, on 17 and 18 December.
Four booze buses and vehicles with Automated Number Plate Recognition were set up on outbound lanes of the Monash Freeway, between High Street and Warrigal Road in Malvern East between the hours of midnight and 7am.
Traffic management support was provided by VicRoads.
A total of 3494 drivers underwent a preliminary breath test administered by Highway Patrol officers together with police from the Road Policing Drug and Alcohol Section and State Highway Patrol officers performing roving patrols.
Two Noble Park brothers were detected separately while allegedly drink-driving on the freeway on Saturday night. Both had their cars impounded and will appear at a magistrates’ court at a later date.
A Burwood man, who was involved in a minor collision in a restaurant carpark in Benalla at 1am on Saturday, returned an EBT reading of .118 before having his driver’s licence suspended.
Shockingly, the man then decided to drive home to Burwood. After allegedly failing to stop at a preliminary testing station, the man was intercepted by police on the Monash Freeway about 4.40am and returned an EBT reading of .051. The man’s car was impounded and he will be summonsed to appear before a magistrate.
All up, 55 drivers were intercepted while exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol, three of whom also returned a positive result to having drugs in their system.
These intercepts and impounds support Operation Roadwise, the state-wide road policing operation during the high-risk Christmas period.
Police are targeting impaired driving, speed, distraction and fatigue in high-risk areas throughout metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Operation Roadwise runs until 11:59pm Sunday 26 December 2021.
