Shock police figures that shame Qld drivers are record road toll

More than 420 drivers have been caught either drink-driving or speeding every single day across Queensland over the past six weeks – even as the state reels from the worst road toll on record.

Queensland police conduct random breath tests in Brisbane. File picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

At least 53 people have been caught drink driving and 369 were nabbed speeding a day in a major police operation over the school holidays.

Operation Mistletoe was launched by police on December 13 and will run until the end of the week. In that time police have issued more than 17,000 speeding infringements and found more than 2440 drink driving and more than 1320 drug impaired drivers.

It comes after Queensland recorded the worst number of fatalities of 303 deaths in almost 20 years.

Acting Inspector Gareth Bosley said operational presence had increased by 19 per cent with more than 62,000 hours of enforcement and engagement undertaken.

“Unfortunately, again, we have seen speeding being a major contributor to poor road safety outcomes over this time,” he said.

He said at least 112 bikes had been used, including covert vehicles.

“Speeding and intoxication are two of the primary causes of road trauma that we see day in, day out. And these figures are not dropping is a significant concern.”

Act Insp Bosley warned police could be anywhere at any time.

“We’ve seen some very high speed detections which the risk of those incidents, they could have been a fatal traffic crash,” he said.

“They could have taken not only their own life, but an innocent person on the road. It’s those behaviours, people who have maybe consumed both drugs and alcohol, which again, increases their risk of involvement in a traffic crash significantly, which we continue to see and we are very worried about.”

Acting Superintendent Steven Newland said as school returned on Tuesday, school zone speed limits applied.

“Police across the state will be out in force, patrolling the school zones to ensure a safe environment for our schoolchildren, a particular focus for us will be speeding and parking,” he said.

“As you would be familiar with, it’s important to have a safe environment for our children to attend school, and it’s important that all road users be vigilant, be alert and adhere to all the road rules.”

Originally published as Shock police figures that shame Qld drivers are record road toll