Police officers across the State spoke with just over 18,500 motorists over the 2019 Easter long weekend as part of a state-wide, five day road safety campaign.
Operation Safe Holidays Easter 2019 was conducted from 12pm on Thursday 18 April 2019 until midnight on Monday 22 April 2019.
Tragically, three motorists lost their lives over the long weekend after the drivers of two B-Double semi-trailers, a 31-year-old man from the Port Augusta area and a 35-year-old man from Campbelltown, crashed on the Augusta Highway just after 1am on Friday 19 April. A third person, a 47-year-old Yorke Peninsula woman, lost her life after the car she was driving rolled on the Copper Coast Highway about 4km east of Kadina.
Officer in Charge of the Traffic Support Branch, Superintendent Robert Gray said, “As in previous years, Operation Safe Holidays saw significant police resources deployed due to the number of South Australians who are on the roads during this holiday period”.
Data from Operation Safe Holidays shows 17475 drivers were tested for alcohol with 53 returning a positive reading while 1110 drivers were drug tested with 92 returning positive tests.
One driver, a 52-year-old man from Woodside received a 12 month instant loss of licence after he returned an alleged blood alcohol reading of 0.170 (more than three times the legal limit) at Woodside around 5pm on Saturday 20 April. Another driver returned an alleged blood alcohol reading of 0.261 – more than five times the legal limit, after he was stopped in Mount Barker just after 6pm on Sunday 21 April. His car was impounded for 28 days and both drivers will be summons to appear in court at a later date.
“We will continue to detect drink and drug drivers and remove them from our roads to ensure the safety of others”, Superintendent Gray said.
In addition, police detected just over 1000 drivers speeding with 702 being issued on the spot fines, 317 formally cautioned and three being issued with an immediate loss of licence.
Police also detected 44 drivers using their mobile phone and 59 were not wearing seatbelts. Of those detected, 66 were issued on the spot fines while 37 were formally cautioned.
“The evidence is clear that all these drivers were not only risking their own safety and that of any passengers in their vehicle, but also putting the lives of other road users at risk. We all have a part to play and road safety is everyone’s responsibility. We cannot keep seeing people lose their lives on our roads – or being the victim of a serious injury. Enough is enough!”, Superintendent Gray said.
