Victoria Police will conduct a state-wide road safety blitz over the Labour Day long weekend as part of an increased safety effort during March.
Commencing on Friday, Operation Arid will run for four days over the long weekend, with police targeting high-risk driving behaviour in an effort to reduce road trauma.
March has historically been the highest-risk month on Victorian roads. Intelligence shows collisions in both rural and metropolitan Melbourne peaked in March over the last five years – attributed to speed, impaired driving, fatigue and seatbelt non-compliance.
There were 25 fatalities recorded in March last year with seven of those occurring over the Labour Day long weekend.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Glenn Weir said that police will be doing “everything we can” to prevent the further loss of life on roads this weekend.
“We know the Labour Day long weekend is a busy event period and a popular time to travel, so we’re anticipating lots of Victorians hitting the roads over the coming days.
“We’ll be out with our full contingent of police vehicles to ensure everyone is doing their bit to keep themselves and all other road users safe.”
Police have already ramped up enforcement this month in response to the high-risk period with 570 traffic infringements issued during the first week of March – a quarter for speeding.
Automatic numberplate recognition technology fitted out in highway patrol vehicles detected 101 unauthorised drivers – either for being unlicenced, disqualified or for driving an unregistered vehicle.
With favourable weather conditions expected for the long weekend, police are preparing for an influx of travel to popular areas around regional Victoria.
Police will focus their efforts on major events and music festivals taking place across the state, conducting extensive alcohol and drug testing to prevent impaired driving.
There were 6762 traffic offences detected during the Labour Day long weekend in 2021 with 2906 speeding offences, 215 drink drivers, 195 drug drivers and 263 mobile phone offences.
Operation Arid commences at 12:01am on Friday 11 March and concludes at 23:59pm on Monday 14 March 2022.
For more information and tips for staying safe on the roads visit the Road Safety page on the Victoria Police website.
