Drivers urged to stay sharp

By Casey Neill

HIGHWAY Patrol police have urged all drivers to be aware of road users around them.
Greater Dandenong Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Scott Roberts urged drivers: “When a light turns green, don’t just take it as gospel that nothing’s coming – take a look.
“You don’t want people getting paranoid, but these things do happen and the public has to be aware of it,” he said.
Sen Sgt Roberts also told the Journal that there’d be additional resources from the State Highway Patrol on Greater Dandenong roads during spring.
“Greater Dandenong has been identified as a high risk area, particularly for bicycle riders and pedestrians,” he said.
Officers will be ensuring cars maintain a safe distance from push bikes when passing them and that they obey the speed limits “particularly in areas where we’ve got that high interaction between pedestrians and road users”.
Sen Sgt Roberts said spring would bring with it warmer weather, more opportunities for alcohol consumption, football finals and horse racing.
“State-based operation Scoreboard is going to be rolled out over the grand final weekend,” he said.
“In the lead-up, we’ll have lots of drink-driving operations in particular.
“People will try to run the gauntlet. The road’s going to be really saturated with police resources.”