Speeders make up majority of long weekend infringements

Geelong and the Surf Coast had more than 300 traffic offences detected in just five days over the Easter long weekend.

The figures come from Operation Nexus, Victoria Police’s crackdown on high-risk driving.

Across the state 7,567 offences were detected with 334 falling within Geelong and the Surf Coast.

Speeding was the most common offence, with 149 drivers caught in Geelong and 83 on the Surf Coast.

Of the more than 146,000 breath tests performed, just 316 were returned above the legal alcohol limit, including 12 in Geelong.

The Surf Coast had twice as many drivers as Geelong disobeying road signs and seven people in the region were found to not be wearing their seatbelts.

Road policing acting assistant commissioner Justin Goldsmith said police will remain visible on the roads throughout the Victorian school holidays.

“Despite our repeated warnings that we would be out in force, disappointingly we have detected thousands of infringements for breaching the road rules over Easter,” Goldsmith said.

“The majority of these drivers acknowledge they’ve done the wrong thing, but have chosen to take a risk anyway – whether that’s speeding a few kilometres over the speed limit, or getting behind the wheel after a few drinks.”

Twenty unregistered vehicles were stopped in the Geelong and Surf Coast region, with eight cars impounded in Geelong.

The number of infringements issued over the long weekend went up by 23 per cent compared to Easter last year.

Operation Nexus ran from Thursday 2 April to Monday 6 April.