Long weekend of drug-driving shockers
POLICE are alarmed at the number of drug-affected drivers getting behind the wheel.
Officers detected 14 allegedly drug-affected drivers across the region’s roads during a crackdown on road safety over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
Highway patrol officers say they stopped a man who was driving an unroadworthy vehicle with balding tyres at Winchelsea yesterday.
The man called a friend who arrived at the scene with new tyres, police said. SeniorSergeant Craig Stevens said the men, 23 and 24, were tested for drugs and both allegedly returned a positive result.
Earlier, police pulled over a Carlton man, 35, allegedly caught driving 134km/h on the Princes Highway at Buckley.
The driver also allegedly tested positive for drugs.
He lost his licence for three months for speeding and was slapped with a $537 fine.
Drivers found guilty of drug-driving by a magistrate face mandatory disqualification from driving for at least six months.
“The number of drugdrivers is concerning,” Sen-Sgt Stevens said.
“We’ve now got the capacity to do more tests, so the chances of motorists being checked and tested are much higher. Drivers should expect to be tested for drugs, particularly if they are involved in a collision.”
Drug-driving eclipsed drink-driving on Geelong roads in the first six months of 2019, with 97 drug-drivers caught.
A 40-year-old Torquay man was fined $496 and received four demerit points after being stopped for swerving along a major road.
Police said the man was using his mobile phone and told officers he was trying to use the GPS function.
Sen-Sgt Stevens praised the good behaviour of the majority of drivers and said road trauma across the region had been low with no fatalities recorded.