Police have charged fifteen people with traffic-related and other criminal offences and issued more than 200 traffic infringement notices during a five-day operation across the Orana/Mid-Western region.
Operation Spoiler is a high-visibility road policing operation targeting criminal activity, anti-social behaviour, drink-driving and road-related offences.
The operation was conducted by officers attached to the Orana Mid-Western Police District, with the assistance from nine Traffic Response Group (TRG) motorcyclists and three Highway Patrol vehicles.
The operation was conducted from Thursday 19 September 2024 to Monday (23 September 2024), targeting the townships of Dubbo, Mudgee, Gilgandra, Dunedoo and surrounding areas.
The five day operation had following results:
- 451 random breath tests conducted with three tested positive
- 265 random drug tests conducted with 43 tested positive
- 205 traffic infringement notices issued including 83 speed-related offences, 22 mobile phone offences and 10 seatbelt-related offences.
Of interest, some examples of dangerous driving behaviour detected during the operation include;
- a motorcyclist who was checked on radar doing 147/100 zone on Goolma Road, Goolma. TRG deployed officers along the route detecting the same rider at a speed of 132/100 on the Gollan Road, Gollan. The rider was detected only minutes after the first offence.
- A total of 1 in 6 drivers were driving under the influence of drugs. 11 Traffic charges and 4 criminal charges were laid. A total of 2 ounces of cannabis and 2 knives were seized during the operation.
Inspector Stuart Forbes of Traffic and Highway Patrol Command said Operation Spoiler will continue to regularly conduct enforcement and to make sure road users feel safe from any potential risks on the road in regional areas.
