Police nab 215 drivers speeding, one doing 159km/h

Pubs and clubs have reopened, seeing nine people caught drink-driving on Gladstone roads last week.

Calliope Road Policing Unit Senior Sergeant Shaune English said officers caught 215 speeding drivers on Gladstone roads in a week.

POLICE have been kept busy on Gladstone roads over the past week, catching 215 speeding drivers, the fastest clocked at 159km/h.

With pubs and clubs back open, Senior Sergeant Shaune English, commander of the Calliope Road Policing Unit, said nine drink-drivers were caught and six people were allegedly driving under the influence of drugs.

“Fortunately for the Gladstone patrol group none of the drink-drivers were high-range,” he said.

“This is the first time the number of drink-drivers have been above drug-drivers for a while.

“If people are planning to have a drink or take drugs, don’t get behind the wheel, don’t drive.

“You are placing your own safety and the safety of everyone else, including police, at risk.”

The person caught speeding doing 159km/h, on the Dawson Highway at Banana, will face a licence suspension of six months, plus a fine of $1245.

“We caught 215 people speeding in seven days,” he said.

“Unfortunately that’s normal – if anything the figures are probably a little bit down.

“I’ve been saying the same things for 13 years to get people to slow down and we still go out every week and write the same amount of tickets.”

Snr-Sgt English also warned that just because your speed displayed on a roadside sign, it didn’t mean it was accurate.

“As you approach those signs, even with cruise control involved, you seem to slow down,” he said.

“That’s because of the angles involved.

“It’s only when you’re at a distance and heading directly towards the sign it will give you close to an accurate reading, because the bigger the angle is, the lower your speed will be.”

Many motorists won’t know double demerit points apply for certain offences if caught twice in 12 months.

“Queensland has double demerits 24/7 in relation to specific offences,” he said.

“For seatbelts, mobile phones and speeding more than 20km/h above the limit, a second offence within 12 months will attract double demerit points.

“So if a driver has a mobile phone offence last week, they get fined $1000 and four points, then a mobile phone ticket this week would cost them $1000 and eight points.

“We see it a lot with drivers caught more than 20km/h over the speed limit ... they got one six months ago and now they’re getting another one.”

The message is simple, Snr-Sgt English said: don’t break the law and you won’t get caught.

“The only day we are going to stop all the problems on our roads is the day people stop doing silly things behind the wheel,” he said.

“The biggest variable factor in road safety is the person driving the car.

“The cars are getting better, the roads are getting better, but it’s the person who is driving that’s the hardest factor to control.

“It doesn’t matter how good your are, or if you think it’s not going to happen to you, don’t drive while tired, or while you’ve been drinking or doing drugs, don’t speed, don’t not wear your seatbelt and don’t drive while distracted.”

With eight fatalities on Queensland roads in recent days, regional Queensland didn’t escape unscathed.

“Unfortunately we had those two in two days (at Mackay and Townsville) and we’ve had three in the past month,” Snr-Sgt English said.

Currently the Queensland road toll stands at nine more deaths than the same time last year.