By CASEY NEILL
GREATER Dandenong police will be tackling road trauma during the Melbourne Cup weekend.
Greater Dandenong Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Scott Roberts said Operation Furlong would bring additional officers into the municipality between Friday 30 October and midnight on Tuesday 3 November.
“We’ll be targeting the main causes of road trauma, primarily being speed,” he said.
“We know for certain that is the main cause of trauma on our roads.
“We’re also looking at impaired drivers, which incorporates drug and alcohol.
“Since April last year, we’ve had 40 instances from this office alone where people have progressed from a preliminary test to an oral fluid test.”
Sen Sgt Roberts said these drivers generally had “some sort of substance in their system”.
“It’s a matter of getting it out there that the opportunity for detection is a lot higher than it ever was before,” he said.
He said police also had a way to test whether prescription medications were impairing a driver.
“If they are impaired we can require them in certain circumstances to have blood taken, testing for a far greater array of prescription and illicit drugs,” he said.
Sen Sgt Roberts said penalties for driving under the influence of drugs included impoundments.
He said officers would also target drivers using mobile phones and failing to wear seatbelts.
“These are all drivers of trauma within the road toll,” he said.
“It’s really a matter of people being courteous on the road and just knowing that they’re sharing the road with their relatives and friends.
“Would they behave and put themselves in a similar situation if they knew it was their friends and relatives on the road?”
