Two people facing court over separate driving charges

Accelerating away from an RBT brought one driver to the attention of police

DOUBLE DEMERITS: Despite being liable to lose twice as many demerit points at the moment police are still finding people driving in a dangerous manner.

A Northern Rivers man who allegedly attempted to avoid police has been charged with unlicensed driving, on day six of the statewide Christmas and New Year's road-safety operation.

About 10:05am Tuesday, police sighted a vehicle travelling west along the Bruxner Highway, Ballina.

Officers conducted a U-turn with the intention of stopping the vehicle for a random breath test.

The vehicle has then accelerated away and drove off the highway at the first available exit.

Police were able to stop the vehicle where the male driver was spoken to.

Inquiries revealed that he did not hold a driver's licence.

It was also established that the man had only recently faced court for the same offence.

The 39-year-old man from a Ballina address was issued with a Court Attendance Notice for never licenced driver - prior offence.

He is due to appear in Ballina Local Court at a later date.

Shortly afterwards about 11:10am Tuesday, a member of the public called triple-0 regarding the manner of driving of a gold Mazda Tribute.

The vehicle was stopped by police in Bentinck St, Ballina where a 43-year-old Woodburn woman was submitted to a breath test which returned a positive reading.

She was arrested and taken to Ballina Police Station where she underwent a breath analysis that returned an alleged reading of 0.210.

Her drivers' licence was suspended, and she was issued a court attendance notice to appear at Ballina Local Court on Wednesday 27 January 2021.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Assistant Commissioner Karen Webb, said despite it being well known that police are out in force over the Christmas/New Year period the number of motorists being detected doing the wrong thing was beyond belief.

"It is no secret that police target poor driver behaviour at this time of year, yet we are still seeing examples of dangerous driving upon our roads," Asst Commissioner Webb said.

"I sincerely believe that it is only because of those police targeting poor driving that has prevented many potential accidents that were just waiting to happen."

"The number of drivers being detected for exceeding the alcohol limit is also disappointing, this is totally irresponsible."