Speed drivers warned

By TANIA MARTIN
SPEEDING motorists will be in big trouble in the Yarra Ranges region this weekend.
The Yarra Ranges Traffic Management Unit will be out in force with Operation Visibility and motorists are being warned that police will show no mercy.
The speeding blitz comes after road crash statistics released last week showed a dramatic increase in vehicle collisions in the Shire in the past 12 months.
TMU officerincharge Sergeant John Morgan has urged motorists to stop making excuses and take responsibility for speeding.
Sgt Morgan said Olinda was one of the towns to record a rise with a 75 per cent increase in all road collisions this year.
He said there had been a 25 per cent increase in serious injury collisions, 50 per cent rise in other injury collisions and a 200 per cent jump in crashes with no injuries.
However, Sgt Morgan said in real terms the 200 per cent increase means that in noninjury collisions the figure has jumped from two accidents in 2004 to six this year.
He said speed was a huge problem with police noticing that motorists are becoming complacent.
Sgt Morgan said motorists do not seem to understand the repercussions of their actions.
“I am not talking small speeds like doing 70 kilometres per hour in a 60 zone. I am talking big speeds like motorists doing 135kph in a 60 zone,” he said.
And he warned that Operation Visibility police will show no mercy to speeding drivers.
“If a motorist is doing something wrong in our area they can expect to be booked,” Sgt Morgan said.
He said the Yarra Ranges TMU officers will not give warnings when they pull motorists over for speeding as they are tired of attending speedrelated accidents.
He said Yarra Ranges TMU officers were recording too many speeding bookings too easily.
“It shouldn’t be that easy, we (TMU) are recording motorists driving excessive speeds and that really worries us,” he said.
Mayor David Hodgett said he was shocked by the latest statistics and has called on residents to slow down.
“I challenge all residents to take the lead and reduce your speed,” Cr Hodgett said.
Sgt Morgan said speed seemed to be a major factor in most collisions and that motorists always had an excuse.
But he added that at the end of the day it was motorists’ responsibility to do the right thing.