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Police focus on driver behaviour in safety blitz

By David Zalstein |
FIND DEALS

New South Wales police have handed out more than 1200 notices for traffic offences to motorists breaking the road rules in a 24-hour blitz focusing on driver behaviour rather than speed.

Conducted by officers from the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, yesterday’s Operation Compliance 4 statewide traffic enforcement operation was aimed at improving road safety with a specific focus on mobile phone use, seatbelt and helmet offences and non-compliant trucks.

The operation resulted in 1262 motorists being issued with infringement notices: 831 for using a handheld phone while driving; 278 for not wearing a seatbelt or helmet; and 153 truck drivers for traffic offences and vehicle defects.

Operations Commander of the Traffic and Highway Patrol, Superintendent Stuart Smith, said police were concerned by the large number of motorists booked for using handheld mobile devices while driving.

“Using a mobile handset while driving or riding a vehicle is irresponsible, illegal and dangerous,” Superintendent Smith said.

“Yesterday’s operation highlights that far too many motorists are continuing to distract themselves with mobile phones when they should be focusing their entire attention on the road around them.”

It’s nice to see individual driver behaviour, and not simply vehicle speed, coming to the fore.


 

  • wbj

    Cue our road freedom fighters who will whinge that police should be chasing real criminals, not persecuting poor motorists who are only doing slightly illegal things and it’s all a revenue raising exercise.

  • tsport100

    What a joke… Like Mobile Phone offences are the biggest threat to road safety LOL.

    Don’t worry about drivers so incompetent behind the wheel they drive around 20 km/h below the speed limit and who are most often the same drivers who are oblivious to KEEP LEFT laws!

    • bust em policeyman

      Why wouldn’t they be a big threat? Have you seen the amount of dickheads on the road distracted by their smart phone updating facebook or texting? Wondering out their lane or driving at half the speed on the motorway well lit screen in their face? Most are p platers with no clue thinking they can handle it, then the reaction of motorists dodging them and causing a ripple effect. Just sayin they should smash these idiots. Grrrr…. :-)

      • Sumpguard

           Using mobile phones whilst driving is DEADLY!  No-one in here (except you apparently) would argue with this and most of us have done it at some point.

           Even more concerning is that so many people can’t be bothered wearing a seatbelt. I didn’t realise there were quite so many ignorant people on our roads . Then again!

           I’d like to see the police develop a safe distance monitor like the number plate recognition system and then start booking the tailgaters!

  • chook

    Keep on booking the ones who cant help themselves and insist on just yakking on and on while driving……..book em till theyre points are gone , then there will be less people to block the right lane and eventually the NSW government will have its budget in a better shape . Its quite obvious which drivers shouldnt have ever had a licence for any reason , so this is the way to remove some of them and reclaim some space on the roads for the rest of us .!!

    • Legnab

      For once i totally agree chook , phone yappers , unlicenced , unregistered , throw the book at them , get them off the road , good drivers have nothing to fear .

      • Garrywhopper

        You would get booked for touching up your makeup you sausage lover

  • horsie

    I only wish the cops busted the 18 year old chick who drove straight into beloved V8 ute while it was parked out the front of my house. Texting! didn’t even slow down. she would be dead if she wasn’t in mummys brand new car. 

    • horsie

      got her before she wrote off my ute i mean. 

  • diesel

    suprised that such a serious issue has only thus far attracted 4 comments including my own, when a HSV vs FPV contest attracts at least 40 or 50 comments every time. I wish Caradvice would have more of these serious subjects for discussion, as its ultimately far more important than any 0-100km/h comparison.

    • horsie

      hey you forgot about our favorite topic of somehow referencing VW in every topic no matter how irrelevant. See there i go again……

      • Lukalele

        Spot on horsie. Article about road safety (or insert any irrelevant article here) = VWs are unreliable.

  • Moe

    Highway Patrols are just like hookers they both sit on the side of a main road and collect money. Have no respect for them as I have seen HWP committing worst offences……

    • Yetiman

      So what are you suggesting? there should be no road laws? If you want to speed, do it on a proper race track.

  • No Fears

    Still amazed at the texters & the mindless phone users behind the wheel & those that are clearly
    on speed or something.
    Wouldn’t mind if natural selection took them off the road permanently & out of society so they no longer breed but they often take an innocent with them,it makes the revenue raising accusation ridiculous & inane.
    Some individuals will always try the system because they see rules as not applying to them for some reason,they are the same ones who will do 110km/h or more on aged barely legal tyres on a poorly maintained vehicle out of ignorance or they simply don’t give a toss about anything.
    No sympathy. 

  • Car Fanatic

    Good job and keep up the good work. I agree, keep booking them until they can’t legally drive and give the roads back to those of us who actually pay attention to driving.

  • Acfsambo

    RTA needs a massive scare campaign about distracted drivers, similar to smoking and such. 

    Though all I do now if someone is on the phone in the car ahead or beside me is hold hand on the horn. It is hard to talk on a phone if someone is blaring their horn (need a train horn).

  • Edward

    Great move by the police. At least not all their attention is on speeding and hooning.

    The next thing they should do is crack down on the bad drivers. Im talking about the drivers that do 20-30km/hr below the limit for no good reason, the ones changing lanes without looking, the drivers that dont know the road rules well enough, the people blocking the right lane on freeways, and the ones that drive so badly that you feel it is dangerous to drive anywhere near them.

    • ek999

      The problem is, on the highway L-Platers and P-Platers have to legally drive 20-30km/h below everyone else and it is dangerous for them and all other cars around them. I would love for someone to explain to me how it is safe for an L-Plater to be driving at 80km/h when everyone else is doing 110km/h.

      Also it should be illegal for trucks to overtake up a hill. Nothing worse then two trucks side by side doing 60km/h on the highway

      • Zaccy16

        Thats stupid that they have to drive slower! in victoria L platers ans P platers can to the legal limit

  • Peanut

    I can’t believe so many people still drive with no Seat Belt on.

    • Sonic

      I can’t believe that either! 

      I live in Perth, and a swear 90% of motorists deserve to have their licences taken away. Everyone lacks common sense, and have no regard for other people while driving. Yesterday on the freeway I saw a P-Plater driving at 100km/h with no hands on the steering wheel, listening to music with earphones and looking at a pretty sunset to her right, rather than where she was going. The answer is proper driver education, not revenue raising!

      • Zaccy16

        Well said

    • Dave S

      or sitting hunched over the steering wheel

  • Wile E Coyote

    I don’t know how many times cars have drifted out of their lane or changed lanes onto me without looking.Whether its texting or whatever doesn’t matter – they are not concentrating 
    If there is a small space between me and the next car so many want to dive in even though they don’t get any further ahead.
    I have taught my kids to never trust the other driver  and be alert and ready to take evasive action.In the last year I have avoided being wiped out at least 6 times.
    I don’t care what happens to these dimwits I just want to be not part of their accident.
    A crackdown by cops gets a big tick from me.

  • kf

    people who use mobiles while driving aren’t all bad drivers, in the same way that people who don’t use their mobiles while driving aren’t all good drivers. eg. it would be safer for a racing driver to drive while texting, having a meal, read a magazine, put on make up (err) in a properly maintained vehicle…than an elderly who has no sense of his surroundings in his crap box he call a volvo, driving to the shops.

    now I KNOW we are not all racing drivers and neither we are all elderly people, MY POINT IS, it all depends on the driver. Send out random compulsory driving tests notices to licensed drivers, a test more focused on how well you can actually drive (merging, keeping left, dealing with peak hour traffic, emergency braking, continue to concentrate while being distracted [the type of distraction will be decided by the testing official LOL], PARKING!!! etc.), not how well you can hold the steering wheel or how far you can turn to check blind spots for cars that aren’t there, which is what the red P test is about now.

    Because the number of people passing the driving test now who shouldn’t have IS TOO DAMN HIGH!!

    • MattW

      I say the exact thing all the time – its too easy to pass the driving test, it needs to have more in it like the merging, concentrating, etc. Same for retesting people every few years… road rules change, driver’s reaction times / mental fitness / etc change over time. (I like the distraction idea lol)

  • Basil Exposition

    So giving the bird to a cop is a bad idea then?

  • Ezz

    Lack of indicator use is most annoying for me, especially at roundabouts. Even a raised index finger dosn’t seem to attract their attention as they are oblivious to their surroundings, it seems.

  • gt86.com.au

    I happily await the day when cars drive themselves and are aware of other cars (0 accidents).. The government will finally not be able to revenu raise from fining people over petty traffic offences..