Safe roads focus for our police

OPERATION Cold Snap will seek out drivers breaking basic road rules over the school holidays in an effort to increase safety.

Double-demerit points will apply to drivers caught using a phone while driving twice in the same 12 month period.

Toowoomba City Patrol Group Inspector Stephen Angus said the Darling Downs region’s road toll for the year to date was four deaths, in line with previous years, while the wider Southern police region was 21 deaths compared to 34 last year.

He said there had been a 19.5% decrease in the number of reported crashes, or 247 for the year, down from 307 last year.

Serious injury crashes were down by 17.3% from 133 last year to 110 this year.

In the year to June 19, 618 drug drivers were caught behind the wheel, up from 558 last year in line with more officers trained in drug detection and testing while on patrol, he said.

The number of drink drivers also increased from 443 last year to 459 this year.

He said 7341 tickets had been issued for life-endangering offences across the Darling Downs, which includes speeding, using mobile phones, inattention, seatbelts and driving fatigued.