By JESSE GRAHAM
IMPAIRED drivers will be in the crosshairs over the coming weeks, as police focus on keeping alcohol and drug affected drivers off the roads.
Operation Remove All Impaired Drivers (RAID) is part of the first phase of Victoria Police’s Summer Stay road enforcement campaign, which will see an increase in booze buses and drug testing.
Road Policing Command Superintendent Neville Taylor said that motorists should expect to be tested, with more mobile breath-testing facilities being located on back roads.
“Police will be out in force across the state, focused on those drivers who have a complete disregard for not only their own lives, but also the lives of others,” he said.
Superintendent Taylor said that drivers who drink or take drugs significantly increase their chances of being involved in a crash and should be removed from the roads.
“We will be placing our booze and drug buses where we know they are needed,” he said.
“We will have our marked and unmarked police cars working the side streets and back roads.
“The message is pretty clear – if you drink and drive, or take drugs and drive, you will be caught.”
Penalties for drink-driving range from a $433 fine and a six-month loss of licence, through to a $614 fine and a 14-month loss of licence or imprisonment for subsequent offences.
Drug-driving offences can range from a $433 fine and a three-month licence suspension, through to heavier fines, a minimum six-month licence cancellation and court convictions for subsequent offences.
Learner permit holders and probationary drivers must maintain a zero blood alcohol content level at all times.
Operation RAID will run from 15 November through to 8 December.
