Police out in force to keep motorists safe this weekend

“There will be a strong focus on fatigue, distraction, and vulnerable road users,” Sgt Croxford said.

Police will be highly visible and enforcing the law to reduce road trauma and influence road user behaviour.

State-wide last year, 5433 offences were detected during the five-day Operation Furlong.

Almost 40 per cent of those were speed-related, so there will be a strong focus on speeding motorists.

There were 224 drink driving offences detected from 66,172 preliminary breath tests, a strike rate of one in every 295 drivers.

Victoria Police is working towards doubling its testing capacity this year, so the likelihood of being tested is higher than ever.

“There will be zero tolerance for drink-driving,” Sgt Croxford said.

“All police vehicles have the ability to conduct alcohol testing, so motorists need to expect to be tested while out on the roads.”

Penalties for drink driving are significant, ranging from fines and loss of licence to impoundments of vehicles and even jail for the most serious offences.