Moreland a hotspot for mobile phone driving offences
Careless motorists watching YouTube and video-chatting to friends behind the wheel are being caught in their hundreds while stuck in traffic in Melbourne’s north. And one road is worse than others, with police issuing 73 tickets in four hours.
North West
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Dangerous, distracted drivers – some watching YouTube and FaceTiming friends – are being caught in their hundreds by a sophisticated police operation targeting roads in Melbourne’s north.
Moreland has become a hotspot for mobile phone driving offences with almost 40 per cent of motorists busted over the Melbourne Cup long weekend detected in the municipality.
Fawkner Highway Patrol and Brunswick uniform officers on push bikes and foot have been operating along busy streets with slow moving and stationary traffic, picking up hundreds of oblivious drivers using their phones.
Out of 662 drivers caught across Victoria between 12.01am on November 1 and 11.59pm on Melbourne Cup day, 258 were in Moreland.
During a four-hour period along Sydney Rd on November 4, 73 penalty notices were issued by three officers on bikes, including one for a driver watching YouTube, another FaceTiming and numerous others with phones on their laps.
One woman was caught twice in five minutes on Epsom Rd near Flemington just before 11.30am on Melbourne Cup day.
Each offence costs $496 and four demerit points.
Highway Patrol Sergeant Andreas Heckmann said bicycle patrol units also targeted Mt Alexander and Racecourse roads, and Ascot Vale during periods of heavy traffic.
“We were having massive issues with distraction related collisions, such as cars in the same direction running in the back of each other, not seeing the turning car,” he said.
“So much has gone into advertising trying to get that message out but it’s still happening.
“It’s concerning we’re getting the same numbers we did two years ago – I would love to say I don’t have a job because no one’s breaching the road rules.
“Will we continue to see it as long as the phones are out.”
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But Sgt Heckmann said drivers were also starting to take responsibility.
“When you do catch them you get the ‘yes, you got me’ – it’s not an argument about just checking maps,” he said.
“From the ones that we are intercepting, the majority know where the line is and there on the wrong side of it.
“Those same direction collisions have stopped or are starting to slow and drivers are heads up, they’re seeing the pedestrians – it’s kudos to the guys that do the work.”
But he warned motorists that police would continue their strong enforcement.