Dandy high on blitz list

By Bridget Cook
POLICE breath tested 6233 people in Greater Dandenong in the first 10 days of a massive nation-wide police operation, in which the city is named a target area.
Police detected 36 drink-drivers in the area between 26 November and 6 December as part of Operation RAID – one of the nation’s biggest road blitzes targeting drug and drink driving.
As part of the operation, police also detected 17 disqualified drivers, 13 unlicensed drivers, 12 mobile phone offences and seven seatbelt offences in Greater Dandenong.
While the operation is happening around the state, police have identified Victoria’s top 15 high-risk areas for alcohol-related road trauma, with Greater Dandenong being named among them.
This means local police will be joined by additional police from the State Highway Patrol and Operations Response Unit to help crack down on drink and drug driving in the area.
The operation will run to 12 December.
Greater Dandenong Highway Patrol Acting Senior Sergeant Scott Roberts said police would be out in number targeting drink-drivers.
“The chances of being detected are exceptionally high,” he said.
“Anyone who chooses to run the gauntlet will be caught.”
More than 950 drink-drivers have been caught across the state as part of the operation.
Road Policing Superintendent Neville Taylor said that officers were shocked and disturbed by the number of people who continued and drink and drive.
“This is the critical time on our roads, December is traditionally our worst month for road trauma, with an average of 57 deaths each year occurring in this month alone,” he said.
“One of the key issues at this time of year is alcohol. It’s the time of year where people are celebrating, heading to Christmas parties and enjoying a few drinks. People simply must not then get behind the wheel.”
Operation RAID stands for Remove All Impaired Drivers and aims to remove motorist from the road who are impaired by alcohol or drugs.