An additional police presence on regional Victorian roads proved no deterrent for some drivers, as police said Operation Compass saw numerous instances of dangerous behaviour such as impaired driving, speeding and mobile phone use.
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The statewide police operation to try and influence bad driver behaviour saw police use an intelligence-based approach to target locations and major arterials where law breaking drivers were expected to be.
Operation Compass took place from Thursday to Sunday during three consecutive weeks, starting on November 12, with 16,827 traffic offences and 1545 crime offences detected.
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More than 7000 infringements for speeding offences were issued, with almost two thirds of these for exceeding the speed limit by 10 kilometres per hour to 25km/h.
As Victorians returned to enjoying restaurants, pubs and wineries, police were conducting breath tests and drug tests, with more than 800 impaired drivers issued with infringements.
Infringements for unregistered vehicles (1859), unlicensed drivers (617) and disqualified or suspended drivers (369) were also among the infringements.
Police impounded 269 vehicles and detected 372 seatbelt offences, while 837 mobile phone offences were found.
Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Libby Murphy said Victorians cannot become complacent about our behaviour on the road.
"Every single road user has a choice to make when they start their journey," Assistant Commissioner Murphy said.
"It's baffling to me that people continue to speed and put themselves and others at risk.
"Exercising a little patience could be the difference between you making it on time to your destination, or never making it at all."
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