Nabbed drink drivers are a crying shame

By Tania Martin
YARRA Ranges’ top traffic cop has been left scratching his head after motorists ignored warnings during one of the state’s biggest road blitzes.
Sergeant John Morgan said it was disappointing that so many people were caught drink driving after all the media coverage the Queen’s Birthday weekend operation had received.
“It’s hard to believe that we had so many when it was all over the news that there was going to be more police on this weekend (12-14 June) and still these people took the gamble,” he said.
In police Region Four, which includes Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah, more than 25 drivers recorded blood alcohol readings above the prescribed limit.
Sgt Morgan said it was surprising that many drivers still didn’t understand the consequence of getting behind the wheel with alcohol in their system.
“When you catch some of them, they burst into tears when they realise they will lose their licence and possibly their jobs because they need to drive,” he said.
“We are made out to be the bad guys because we catch them doing the wrong thing but they just don’t think about it until they lose their licence.”
Over the three day operation more than 243 offences were recorded in the region with Yarra Ranges police putting in a staggering 1124 patrol hours. In Knox police patrolled for a combined 2855 hours and in Maroondah 623 hours.
Across the region more than 11,088 motorists were breath tested, recording 25 positive readings.
Sgt Morgan said, despite this, the drink driving message was getting through.
“Five years ago, if we did an operation like this we would have had 60 drink drivers,” he said.
“But it’s still disappointing people are drinking and getting behind the wheel, especially when they know police are going to be out there.”
However, Sgt Morgan said it was good to see motorists taking their foot off the pedal over the weekend.
He was on patrol along Maroondah and Melba highways which are notorious for speeding motorists.
But Sgt Morgan said the highest speed recorded was 109 kilometres per hour in a 100km/h zone.
“People going away realised there were a lot of people on the highways and police were working overtime… they were doing the right thing,” he said.