An 18-year-old man who was clocked travelling at 170km/h on the Bruce Highway on the Sunshine Coast was one of thousands of people nabbed in a statewide road safety blitz during the September school holidays.
The P-plater was intercepted in a 110 km/h zone at Palmview on September 23 just after 9pm. He was issued with a $1854 fine and loss of eight demerit points.
The Queensland Police Service charged 9584 people across Queensland during Operation Spring Break, which ran from September 14 to 29.
During the operation police conducted more than 40,000 roadside breath tests and more than 2200 roadside drug tests, resulting in 446 motorists being charged with drink-driving and 417 with drug-driving.
A further 3606 speeding offences and 126 seat belt offences were detected.
The statewide total of 9584 people also included all Type 1 and Type 2 offences, unregistered and uninsured vehicles and all other traffic offences.
Operations included high-visibility highway patrols, static RBT and RDT operations and targeted patrols of high-risk locations based on information received from the public.
Acting Chief Superintendent Garrath Channells said that while the majority of motorists did the right thing, it was a minority who drove dangerously and put the lives of others at risk.
“QPS is dedicated to keep motorists safe by enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for those found to be driving dangerously,” he said.
“One offence during the operation involved police intercepting a vehicle speeding, to find an unrestrained five-year-old girl lying on the back seat and the driver to have a suspended licence.
“That behaviour put the life of a child at risk, and the driver was charged with three offences and will go before court.
“Every decision you make behind the wheel not only impacts yourself, but all those around you on the road.
“Simple things like wearing a seatbelt significantly improves your chances of surviving a crash. Yet almost one in 10 Queenslanders still admit to not always wearing one.
“Too many lives have been lost on Queensland roads this year and we do not want to see this figure climb any higher.”
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