Victoria Police detected more than 470 offences during a major road safety operation on the Hume Freeway this week.
Operation Hamilton saw regional and State Highway Patrol units highly visible and enforcing on the Hume Freeway between Melbourne and Wodonga.
The operation ran in conjunction with Operation Furious, a New South Wales road policing operation on the Hume Freeway over the border between Albury and Sydney.
The cross-border operations saw police focused on behaviours like speeding, distraction and impaired driving that contribute significantly to road trauma.
More than half of the offences detected during Operation Hamilton were speeding-related, with the majority of those detected speeding between 10km/h and 25km/h over the speed limit.
Police conducted 777 preliminary breath tests and 161 roadside drug tests, with five drink driving and seven drug driving offences detected.
There was also a focus on heavy vehicle compliance, with police detecting 50 heavy vehicle offences during the operation.
The total 479 offences detected during Operation Hamilton included:
• 276 speeding offences;
• 50 heavy vehicle offences;
• 46 defect notices issued;
• 34 unregistered vehicles;
• 12 disqualified/suspended and unlicenced drivers;
• Seven drug driving offences from 161 roadside drug tests;
• Five drink driving offences from 777 preliminary breath tests;
• Five disobey traffic signs/signals offences;
• Four vehicle impoundments;
• Two mobile phone offences; and
• One motorcycle helmet offence
Operation Hamilton ran from 12:01am on Monday 17 June until 11:59pm on Thursday 20 June 2024.
Quotes attributable to Road Policing Assistant Commissioner, Glenn Weir:
“The number of offences detected during Operation Hamilton over a four-day period suggests to us that there is a high level of complacency by motorists travelling on the Hume Freeway.
“As a major route between Melbourne and Sydney which carries high volumes of traffic, we cannot afford for motorists to be complacent when travelling on this road – it is this type of behaviour that often results in road trauma.
“Anecdotally, we’ve heard that many intercepted motorists commented on the high number of police vehicles they had seen on the Hume Freeway, so we know the visible police presence is having an impact on driver behaviour.
“We’ll continue to look for opportunities in the coming weeks and months to team up with our interstate counterparts to conduct more of these cross-border operations, so you should expect to see police out enforcing anywhere, anytime.”
