By Russell Bennett and Kath Gannaway
THE hills’ top highway cop has warned all unlicensed drivers, or drivers of unregistered vehicles – “it’s a matter of when you will be caught, not if”.
Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol charged eight people for unlicensed driving and a further three for driving while disqualified during an operation at Coldstream last week.
Unit commander Sergeant John Morgan said the Automatic Numberplate Recognition (ANPR) operation, which also saw police pick up 20 unregistered cars, was “good in so far as we got them, but bad in terms of people continuing to drive unlicensed and unregistered. “Now we’ve got 40 less people doing it.”
The police’s ANPR vehicle scans every number plate and checks to see if a car is stolen, and if its driver is disqualified or unlicenced.
“The operator then radios ahead to police who intercept the vehicle,” Sgt Morgan said.
“Then it’s just a matter of intercepting that car.
“Quite often we will intercept a car where the owner is unlicensed but the owner is not the one driving.
“It’s a very effective mechanism – in two days we can scan every car on a road.
“We scanned about 5000 cars over the two days (in Coldstream).” Sgt Morgan added: “In the Yarra Ranges we have lot more of these (operations) scheduled so I would say to anybody that is unlicensed – get licensed, and if disqualified – don’t drive, and certainly don’t drive an unregistered car.”
Victoria’s State Highway Patrol was also out in force in Healesville recently, pulling in motorbike riders heading up the Black Spur.
