A YOUTH hooning in a stolen car was one of the low points for police on North East roads this Christmas.
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The 17-year-old was seen driving erratically at 9pm at Ringwood, in Melbourne, but was not seen until he got to the Oxley exit, near Wangaratta.
Police chased the youth before the pursuit ended on Oxley-Greta West Road when the offender drove into private property.
He tried to reverse when confronted by police and drove through a fence and hit a tree.
The driver attempted to run but was arrested by police.
There was also trouble across the border.
More than 200 drivers in Albury were fined for offences over four days and police warned there was more to come with double demerit points remaining in place until next week.
Albury highway patrol officers issued 216 fines from last Friday until Monday, including seven for drink driving, 90 for speeding and 113 for offences like using mobile phones and unlicensed driving.
One Albury drink driver was caught with a blood alcohol level of 0.191 and another at 0.171, while two drivers were caught speeding 45km/h above the speed limit at Holbrook and Urana.
The blitz is part of Operation Safe Arrival, a NSW police initiative.
The operation runs until January 2.
It was a fatality-free Christmas Day at 10pm.
The toll since December 23 is at four, down from 10 last year.
The last death was on Christmas Eve when a man, 69, crashed his car into a tree near Bundaberg in Queensland.
On Monday, a man died in northern NSW during a police chase and two women died near Ouyen, in Victoria.
The national toll last festive season was 49.