North East police detected at least 32 offences in a four-day road blitz on the Hume Freeway ahead of another safety campaign for the Labour Day long weekend.
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Preliminary results for Operation Hamilton, which ran from Tuesday, March 5, to Friday, March 8, revealed 15 speeding drivers up to 25kmh over the limit, two drivers more than 25kmh over the limit, two drug drivers, one unlicensed driver, four unregistered drivers and 12 traffic offences.
Acting Inspector Joel Hughes, of Wodonga Police, said overall most drivers were behaving correctly on the roads.
"One pleasing note is that we haven't had any alcohol detections or any exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol offences committed," he said.
"We've had 10 truck drivers who haven't been complying with their work diary requirements who have been issued with infringement notices."
Operation Hamilton complemented a similar Hume Highway operation by NSW Police.
"In total, both sides of the border, there were 600 kilometres roughly covered ... from Sydney down to Glenrowan and we've had extra police on the roads during those periods, focusing on reducing road trauma," Acting Inspector Hughes said.
"Even a couple of kilometres an hour over the speed limit increases the chances of people having a collision ... so we really need people to stick to those speed limits.
"There's a wide range of excuses given; at the end of the day no excuses are valid, or give you a justification for speeding on our roads."
The Victorian long weekend blitz, Operation Arid, launched on Friday, March 8, and runs until midnight on Monday, March 11. Drivers can expect a "highly visible police presence".
Victoria Police figures show 20 people have died in single vehicle collisions on rural roads this year, representing about 40 per cent of the state's road deaths in 2024.
Acting Inspector Hughes said police would target speed and distracted driving offences, including driving impaired by drugs or alcohol and mobile phone use.
Drivers are reminded to take care, allow sufficient time to travel and prepare for more road users, particularly on the major roads and highways.
"One other thing we'd ask people to be mindful of is if you're travelling in and around heavy vehicles or other vehicles that are towing things such as caravans, to allow sufficient distance and don't travel too closely behind those vehicles," the Wodonga officer said.
"A successful campaign for Victoria Police would be having no injuries or fatalities on our roads and we don't want to detect any offences.
"If we don't detect any offences, that means that our drivers are behaving, doing the right thing."
