Operation Tango Mistletoe starts today

Sadly 231 people have died on our roads and 6993 people suffered serious injuries in the past year. Here’s what Darling Downs police have planned to prevent more unnecessary deaths on our roads.

Motorists can expect a heavy police presence on our roads from today with the start of Operation Tango Mistletoe, the Queensland Police Service summer holiday road safety campaign.

Darling Downs crime prevention officer Sergeant Tony Rehn said police would focus on the rural roads, highways and border crossings.

They will pay close attention to the Fatal Five: drunk and drugged driving, speeding, seatbelts, distracted driving and fatigue.

“We will be doing speed detection, mobile and static and RBTs for drugs and alcohol and we will be looking at fatigue, with people driving over long distances,” he said.

Queensland Police Service crime prevention officer Sergeant Tony Rehn

Sgt Rehn urged motorists to take regular breaks and avoid driving long distances in one hit as police are concerned about a flurry of Christmas traffic the day after the Covid border restrictions end.

“We are going to have a lot of traffic in a very short time,” he said.

“The border opens on December 17 whereas in previous years people would have already started travelling by now.”

While free travel between the states will be in place by Christmas, police will remain on the border conducting random breath tests and vehicle checks.

“There are going to be people driving north, south, east, west and all over the joint and they will leave it to the last minute,” Sgt Rehn said.