By Molly Magennis
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology has helped police detect four unauthorised drivers in Hobsons Bay during an Australia Day road safety blitz.
As part of Operation Amity, which ran over two days, police used ANPR technology fitted to highway patrol vehicles to detect disqualified, suspended and unlicensed drivers, as well as those driving unregistered vehicles.
As well as the four disqualified drivers that were detected in Hobsons bay, police also detected five unregistered vehicles. One vehicle was impounded.
Two drunk drivers and two drug affected drivers were also detected during this time.
One speeding offence was issued.
There were no detections recorded in Maribyrnong over the two days.
A total of 2838 offences were detected in Victoria during the operation, including 1117 speeding offences, 114 mobile phone offences, 92 drunk driving offences and 70 drug affected driving offences.
Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said it had been a busy end to the peak holiday season.
“Disappointingly, we continue to detect a significant number of motorists flouting the road rules and putting other’s lives at risk – with almost 3000 offences detected in just two days,” he said.
“Police patrols have increased on Victorian roads since the end of lockdowns, so motorists should expect to see more police, more often this year. With school resuming next week and more people returning to work now is not the time to be complacent behind the wheel.”
