While the Ballarat area did not have any fatalities over the Easter long weekend, police were still concerned with the behaviour displayed by some drivers on the road.
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As part of the weekend's Operation Nexus road blitz, more than 50 speeding offences were issued and 10 people were caught either drink or drug-driving.
There were also three disqualified drivers, six unlicensed drivers and 21 unregistered vehicles caught on the roads with four vehicles also impounded.
Ballarat Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Stuart Gale said while it was tragic to lose five lives on Victorian roads over Easter, he was grateful there were none locally.
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"Concerning though is the high amount of drug and alcohol offences detected and the high number of speeding offences," he said.
"I know three [drink-drivers] were detected during morning testing which is residual alcohol as a result of a big night. One of those was an accompanying driver to a learner driver which again is concerning.
"Locally, we conducted 3340 preliminary breath tests which again shows we were out in force conducting that testing and ensuring drivers were safe over that period."
Senior Sergeant Gale said while the number of speeding offences was not out of the ordinary, there were some concerning instances of high-level speeding.
"I would see those figures normally, but I saw eight offences of vehicles travelling 25km/h or more over the posted speed limit," he said.
"I don't condone speeding and to see eight vehicles doing more than 25km/h over the speed limit is totally unacceptable."
Senior Sergeant Gale said there were also some instances of high-level drink-driving despite a strong police and TAC campaign leading into the weekend.
"I thought we put out a strong enough message out that we would be out in force continuing to make people safe, the campaign that TAC has done, I think, is a good campaign. It is our job to ensure people get to their destination and arrive safely," he said.
"I do expect to see people travel over the upcoming weeks. I think it's a new thing post-restrictions and I encourage people to do that but also to do it safely, drive at appropriate speeds, take appropriate breaks and if they're going to go away, plan their trip, make sure they're not fatigued and don't drink too much."
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