Victoria police recently held a four day operation to crack down on motor vehicle offences. The operation was success having detected 758 offences in high risk areas around Central Victoria. The operation revealed that an astonishing amount of drivers are still talking on their mobile phones while driving. Speeding is also a problematic occurrence that was detected.
This is what Vicpolicenews.com.au had to say:
- Police targeting poor driver behaviour in high-risk areas around Central Victoria detected more than 750 offences in the first four days of Operation Super Ardent.
- Of the 758 offences detected, 428 drivers were caught speeding between Friday 13 and Monday 16 July.
- Of those 428 drivers, 25 were detected travelling 25 km/h or more over the speed limit and, as part of the operation; members from the State Highway Patrol and local police impounded one vehicle and detected the following:
- – Four disqualified and/or suspended drivers
- – Nine unlicensed drivers
- – 36 unregistered drivers
- – 13 seat belt offences
- – 78 mobile phone offences
- Three drug driving offences and one drink driving offence were detected from the 929 vehicles checked and 944 preliminary breath tests conducted.
- State Highway Patrol Inspector David Griffin said Operation Super Ardent would see large numbers of local and state resources continue a strong presence in Central Victoria over the next five weeks, cracking down on unsafe driving and disregard for road rules.
- “We have the ability to move our resources to any area across the State which has been identified as high risk in relation to road trauma,” Inspector Griffin said.
- “At the end of the day, we want to save lives and operations like Super Ardent will help us achieve that goal.”
- Operation Ardent was introduced in 2009 to deliver a high impact road policing presence in high risk Police Service Areas. Operation Super Ardent signifies a larger than ever police presence in the identified areas with the intention of significantly reducing road trauma and intercepting traffic offenders.
Clearly from this police exercise speeding is the main culprit on our roads with a staggering 428 drivers caught out of the approximately 929 vehicles stopped. This is an alarming number, showing that motorists have become complacent about their attitude towards speed. But what is the big deal? Why is speeding an issue? Well, speeding remains the biggest killer on Australian roads according to police records. Speeding increases your chance of having a crash, and increases the risk of serious injury or death if you do crash. Let’s look at what the government has to say about speeding:
According to Rta.nsw.gov.au:
The risk of a death or injury crash in an urban 60km/h speed zone increases rapidly even with relatively small increases in speed. The casualty crash risk at 65km/h is about twice the risk at 60km/h. At 70km/h, the casualty crash risk is more than four times the risk at 60km/h.
For pedestrians, the risks are even greater. A person hit by a car travelling at 40km/h has a 25 per cent chance of being killed. Increase the speed to 60km/h and the crash becomes barely survivable with the pedestrian having an 85 per cent chance of being killed
Speeding also increases stopping distances. A car travelling at 60km/h in dry conditions takes about 38 metres to stop. A car travelling at 80km/h takes the length of more than half a football field to come to a stop.
The cost of speeding is not only a human one, speed related crashes cost the community around $1.5 billion each year. Community costs include emergency services, hospital and health care and loss of productivity in the workplace.
The dangers of mobile phone usage are that it slows driver’s reaction time, impairs visual search patterns and ability to maintain speed and position on the road. Drivers are also preoccupied which results in the inability to judge safe gaps in the traffic and awareness of fellow road users.
According to statistics using a mobile phone while driving can increase the risk of crashing by four times. Operators and drivers need to be aware of the serious consequences of talking while driving and should voluntarily fit hands-free devices into their vehicles, however government needs to pay more attention to the issue and review whether legislation is needed to curb this disturbing trend.
Another problem with mobile phone usage while driving (without using a hands-free device), is that it causes distraction. The driver may feel capable of multi-tasking by paying attention to the call and the road but having both hands available is vital in case the driver needs to make sudden manoeuvres or brake quickly. Drivers talking on their mobile phones are less likely to react in time to the brake lights of the vehicle in front of them. According to scientists the increased cognitive workload involved in holding a conversation causes an increased risk while driving especially when on a busy highway.
