	{"id":97732,"date":"2024-05-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=97732"},"modified":"2024-05-28T14:38:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T04:38:49","slug":"high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\/","title":{"rendered":"High-risk drivers targeted in state&#8217;s west"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MORE than 150 offences were detected by Victoria Police in Operation West Connect as highway patrol units were in full force in the state&#8217;s west.<\/p>\n<p>Units focussed on major arterial roads in the area as they targeted high risk driving behaviour in what will be an ongoing operation.<\/p>\n<p>60 per cent of offences recorded were for speeding, while police conducted more than 550 preliminary breath tests.<\/p>\n<p>Western Region Road Policing Inspector Justine Ryan said they are doing everything they can to drive down road trauma in the region.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Speeding on regional roads continues to be a major contributing factor to serious injury and fatal collisions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And yet it&#8217;s evident so many motorists are not heeding the warnings as we are continuing to detect far too many people speeding.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms Ryan is urging drivers to slow down and stick to the speed limits.<\/p>\n<p>Along with speeding a number of other offences were also detected including unregistered vehicles, drivers using their mobile phones, drug and alcohol affected drivers and more.<\/p>\n<p>There have been 104 lives lost on Victorian roads this year, including 28 of those in the Western region.<\/p>\n<p>The operation takes in areas from Geelong all the way to the South Australia border, including across the Surf Coast.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Operation West Connect is an ongoing policing initiative and motorists should expect to see police out enforcing across major arterials in Western Victoria,&#8221; Ms Ryan said.<\/p>\n<p>As the operation continues, police will focus on detecting speeding, distracted and impaired drivers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MORE than 150 offences were detected by Victoria Police in Operation West Connect as highway patrol units were in full force in the state&#8217;s west. Units focussed on major arterial roads in the area as they targeted high risk driving behaviour in what will be an ongoing operation. 60 per cent of offences recorded were [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":97861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-97732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>High-risk drivers targeted in state&#039;s west - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Victoria Police Crackdown on Risky Drivers! 150+ offences in Operation West Connect! 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