Police throughout Victoria were celebrating when they reached their one major goal: zero deaths on the road across the state over the three days.

It was the first time in five years any Victorian long weekend had passed without a road fatality.

But not everyone was well behaved.

Police caught 42 speeding drivers around the Wangaratta police service area as part of Operation Scoreboard between the Thursday night before the grand final public holiday and Sunday.

During the same period, 25 speeding drivers were caught around Wodonga, as well as seven motorists in unregistered vehicles.

Wodonga did not have any problems with drivers under the influence, but two people were caught drink-driving and six caught driving without a valid licence in Wangaratta.

Two drivers had their cars impounded, three were fined for not wearing seat-belts and two were caught running red lights.

Myrtleford’s Leading Senior Constable Anthony Short said police were generally happy with motorists’ behaviour considering the poor weather.

Officers in the smaller towns spent much of the weekend helping to clear fallen trees.

“People were showing a bit of common sense and were paying respect to the conditions,” Leading Senior Constable Short said.

Victorian Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said he was very pleased no lives were lost, calling it “a fantastic result”.

“Unfortunately we did still detect a significant amount of people taking serious risks with not only their own lives but also the lives of others,” he said.

“Every one of these incidents could have ended in tragedy and I’m grateful we were able to play our role and detect them before they could hurt anyone.”

NSW’s Operation Slowdown finished on Monday night following the Labour Day long weekend.

Traffic and Highway Patrol commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner David Driver, said it was a major concern some road users continued to speed and put themselves and others at risk.

“It is imperative that road users not only slow down, but also drive to the conditions, both of the road and their vehicles,” he said.