800 speedsters nabbed

THE Summer Stay campaign which ran across the City of Casey and Cardinia Shire this summer nabbed over 800 speeding drivers.
The operation was introduced in a bid to reduce the road toll this summer, with police hopeful it would ease the risk on the roads.
Casey’s Senior Sergeant John Felton said given the amount of publicity dedicated to reducing the road toll, it was disappointing to see people still neglecting the law.
“It was disappointing given the amount of media coverage it is given,” he said.
“There were 986 traffic offences.”
The campaign, which ran from 16 November until 7 January, encouraged motorists to either stay safe on the roads, or stay off.
The blitz targeted a number of driving offences, with the biggest offence in the City of Casey being speed, with over 800 drivers caught for exceeding the permitted limit.
In addition to speed, 30 drink-drivers were also caught on the road over summer in the local area.
The Summer Stay program was conducted to coincide with extra traffic and is an initiative which is run each year to help reduce road offences over the busy period.
Just under 13,000 preliminary breath tests were conducted in the City of Casey.
Sen Sgt Felton was disappointed with the number of drink-drivers caught.
“Thirty is too many,” Sen Sgt Felton said.
With the Australia Day weekend coming up, the police sergeant said the blitz would continue and he encouraged all road users to plan ahead.
“People still out and about should plan ahead,” he said.
“If travelling long distances, pay attention to fatigue and take regular breaks.”
He said the Casey/Cardinia police division would be conducting operations on the road over the upcoming long weekend, with the hope this would stop dangerous drivers.
“Again, plan ahead, and allow additional travel time.”