While speeding motorists are the main focus of this week’s safety blitz on the Hume Highway, truckies have also been put on notice by NSW and Victoria Police.
According to a media release announcing what is touted as one of the largest cross-border road safety operations in recent times, inspectors from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator will assist police to “ensure heavy vehicle drivers are compliant with vehicle regulations”.
The NSW crackdown is called Operation Furious and runs until June 20, targeting speeding and dangerous driving on the Hume Highway from Haberfield, in the inner-city suburbs of Sydney, to Albury on the New South Wales/Victorian border.
Victoria Police are running Operation Hamilton at the same time and will see regional and State Highway Patrol members highly visible and enforcing on the Hume Freeway between Melbourne and Wodonga.
More than 180 NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol officers will be deployed over the four days in marked and unmarked vehicles, conducting stationary and random speed enforcements.
Results for the first 24 hours of Operation Furious include: 104 drivers detected speeding, 349 random breath tests conducted, 79 random drug tests conducted, one positive breath test, five positive drug tests and 61 other traffic infringement notices issued.
Traffic and Highway Patrol South West Commander, Superintendent Rob Toynton, said the Hume Highway is a busy stretch of road and the site of too many serious crashes.
“We make no apologies for targeting drivers driving dangerously and putting themselves – and more importantly – other road users at risk,” said Superintendent Toynton.
“This joint operation involving NSW Police and Victoria Police, means drivers who do the wrong thing have nowhere to hide.”
The Victoria blitz comes as the Wangaratta and Wodonga region experienced a significant increase in road trauma in 2023, with 25 fatal collisions, 10 higher than the previous year, and 187 serious injury collisions, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year.
Of these, around 20 per cent occurred on, or close to the Hume Freeway.
Last time Operation Hamilton was conducted on the Hume Freeway over a four-day period, highway patrol intercepted 200 vehicles and detected 35 speeding offences, seven unregistered vehicles, three unlicenced drivers, impounded two vehicles and issued seven defect notices.