More than 200 infringement notices have been issued during a five-day operation targeting dangerous driver behaviours and heavy vehicle compliance in the state’s west.
Between Monday 12 August 2019 and today (Friday 16 August 2019), officers from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command conducted Operation Impact, a high-visibility operation utilising mobile and stationary speed enforcement, random drug and alcohol testing, and heavy vehicle compliance inspections, across the Orange, Dubbo, Forbes, Narrabri, Lightning Ridge and Bourke areas.
During the five-day operation, officers issued 209 traffic infringement notices for several offences, including exceed speed limit, use handheld mobile phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt, use unregistered vehicle and use uninsured vehicle.
Incidents of note during the operation include:
- The P1 provisional driver of a Suzuki Swift was stopped for a roadside drug test in Orange about 12.30pm on Monday 12 August 2019. The driver, a 20-year-old man from Orange, allegedly returned a positive result. An 11-year-old was also in the car. The man was arrested and taken to Orange Police Station for a secondary test. He was issued a 24-hour driving prohibition notice. Investigations are continuing, and a child-at-risk notification has been made.
- About 11.30am on Tuesday 13 August 2019, a Mitsubishi Triton utility was stopped for random testing in Forbes. The driver, a 40-year-old woman, allegedly returned a positive result for methylamphetamine. Inside the car were two children, aged three and nine. The woman was arrested and taken to Forbes Police Station for a secondary test. As police await the results, the woman’s licence was suspended for 24 hours and a child-at-risk notification was made.
- About 3.20pm on Tuesday 13 August 2019, a Holden Commodore was stopped in Forbes for random testing. The driver, a 29-year-old man from Forbes, produced a P2 provisional licence and allegedly returned a positive result to cannabis. He was arrested and taken to Forbes Police Station for a secondary test, which has been sent for forensic examination. The man’s licence was suspended for 24 hours and he was issued an infringement notice for driver not wear seatbelt properly.
- A 44-year-old woman was issued a Court Attendance Notice for drive with illicit drug present in oral fluid after she was stopped for random testing in Forbes about 11.30am yesterday (Thursday 15 August 2019). It will be alleged the woman returned a positive result for methylamphetamine while driving with a three-year-old boy in the vehicle. Investigations are continuing, and a child-at-risk notification has been made. She is due to appear at court at a later date.
