HOLLYWOOD came to Frankston, Wednesday 18 July, when members of Somerville Highway Patrol ran Operation Hollywood in the south-bound lanes of Peninsula Link.
Over six hours police used an automated number plate recognition van to scan the plates of passing vehicles for anomalies, and pulled offenders over further down the road. Those nabbed included seven suspended drivers, drug driver, drivers of 29 unregistered vehicles, two unlicensed drivers, speeding driver and one driving an unroadworthy car.
Somerville Highway Patrol’s Acting Senior Sergeant Pete Martin said the operation aimed to create high visibility policing and reduce road trauma. “Unauthorised drivers and unregistered vehicles are over represented in road trauma statistics,” he said. “Four people have lost their lives on local roads this year, and 81 have suffered serious injuries.”
Acting Senior Sergeant Martin said road laws requiring drivers to slow down when passing emergency vehicles with the lights flashing had been in place for more than a year. “Yesterday I was horrified at the speed that some motorists drove when passing police standing on the roadside,” he said. “The next time the operation is run police cars dedicated to enforcing these laws and educating motorists will be involved.”
The penalty for failing to slow to 40kph when passing an emergency vehicle with lights flashing is $282. “More importantly, failing to slow down is putting police and other emergency workers in danger,” Acting Senior Sergeant Martin said.
First published in the Mornington News – 31 July 2018
