Drivers caught out in police blitz

BUNDABERG police were kept busy during the Easter long weekend with law-breakers taking over the roads.

Bundaberg police are not impressed with the behaviour of law-breaker drivers over the Easter long weekend.

BUNDABERG police were kept busy during the Easter long weekend with law-breakers taking over the roads.

Almost 250 speeding tickets were issued in the region, where the highest speed recorded was 146kmh in a 100kmh zone.

A covert speed camera also proved successful, catching about 40 vehicles over the limit.

Police Inspector Kev Guteridge said one driver was caught breaking the law twice in less than an hour.

“One car came past doing 96kmh in a 60kmh zone and not long after, they were detected doing 92kmh in the same zone,” he said.

“This sort of behaviour highlights the battle we continue to face on our roads.”

Insp Guteridge said 10 crashes were reported and, of those, two resulted in serious injury.

One woman driver was allegedly caught drink-driving almost five times over the legal limit with a breath alcohol reading of 0.236.

“It’s concerning to think that with all of the warnings in the lead-up to the weekend, we still saw breath alcohol readings such as this,” Insp. Guteridge said.

“This is not the result of someone having half a glass of wine. These people are making a decision to drive when they are in no condition to do so.”

Police Traffic Branch Sergeant Paul Sullivan said the behaviour of drivers was a disappointment.

“One male driver was intercepted with two children in the car doing 112kmh in a 90kmh zone with a breath alcohol level of 0.156,” he said.

“It’s very disappointing to see this. Most people do comply but unfortunately there is a small minority who continue to do the wrong thing.”

Sgt Sullivan said the number of drivers in the Bundaberg region, which includes Gin Gin, Childers, Monto, Mt Perry, Biggenden, Eidsvold and Bargara, had increased significantly over the Easter break.

“There has been a lot of traffic on the roads,” he said.

“Unfortunately the number of drink-drivers and people caught speeding has been quite high in this period.”

Insp. Guteridge warned that the weekend traffic blitz was only the beginning of things to come.

“This is only the first phase of the operation,” he said.

“We will continue through this week and have further concentration next weekend. Our intention is to get everyone home safe.”

Easter law-breakers

Bundaberg police were busy over the Easter break. From 1710 breath tests performed, 12 people were charged with drink-driving. The highest breath alcohol reading was of a woman almost five times over the limit at 0.236. Excluding speed cameras, 194 speeding tickets were issued. The highest speed recorded was 146kmh in a 100kmh zone. Covert speed cameras caught 40 drivers.

Originally published as Drivers caught out in police blitz