	{"id":135864,"date":"2024-05-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=135864"},"modified":"2024-05-28T11:15:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T01:15:28","slug":"high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/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\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":135866,"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-135864","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 v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>High-risk drivers targeted in state&#039;s west - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Victoria Police Crackdown on Risky Drivers! 150+ offences in Operation West Connect! 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Speeding, phone use, &amp; impaired driving targeted on major roads from Geelong to SA border.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-27T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-28T01:15:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/05\/Untitled-design-2024-05-22T151159.471.jpg?_t=1716858928\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abby Pardew\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abby Pardew\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abby Pardew\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/830da1968e4a2c17abb7828279809399\"},\"headline\":\"High-risk drivers targeted in state&#8217;s west\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-27T18:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-28T01:15:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":251,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Untitled-design-2024-05-22T151159.471.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/\",\"name\":\"High-risk drivers targeted in state's west - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/high-risk-drivers-targeted-in-states-west\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Untitled-design-2024-05-22T151159.471.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-27T18:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-28T01:15:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Victoria Police Crackdown on Risky Drivers! 150+ offences in Operation West Connect! 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