NSW Easter Road Blitz Reveals ‘Blatant Disregard’ Despite Double Demerit Points

Police have issued a warning to drivers to 'do the right thing' after seven people died on NSW roads over the Easter long weekend including three male motorcyclists and three male passengers.

All single-vehicle crashes; police say the long-weekend incidents took place in both metropolitan and regional areas.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news with The NSW Briefing - keeping you in the loop with news as it hits

The NSW Easter Operation 2022 commenced last Thursday and concluded at midnight on Monday, with the five-day operation, delivering more than 186,000 random breath tests, which saw 320 people charged with drink driving.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul Glinn, said despite double demerits across the Easter long weekend, a good number of drivers failed to do the right thing.

“Drink driving and speeding were some of the most common offences detected on NSW roads this past weekend,” he said.

“The blatant disregard for road rules shown by many was astounding. I want to applaud our police officers across the state for their efforts in detecting this illegal behaviour and preventing what could have been more road trauma from occurring.”

“Our message to road users is simple – police can be anywhere, anytime and we’ll be targeting high-risk behaviour, including drink, drug, dangerous and distracted driving,” Acting AC Glinn said.

Included in the five-day road blitz were:

• Speed infringements: 4,273
• Breath tests conducted: 186,482
• Positive breath tests returned: 320
• Major crashes: 361
• Fatalities: 7

“With another long weekend approaching, police are again preparing to run another high-visibility traffic operation across the state,” police warned.

“We don’t want to see any more deaths or serious injuries on our roads in crashes that can be easily prevented.

“Double demerits will again be in place this weekend so if you’re travelling long distances or simply to the local shops, prepare to see police out and about keeping you safe,” Acting AC Glinn said.

The Anzac Day traffic operation will run from 12.01am Friday 22 April 2022 – 11.59pm Monday 25 April 2022.

Join Tom Tilley with regular rotating co-hosts Jan Fran, Annika Smethurst and Jamila Rizvi on The Briefing, Monday - Saturday, for the day's headlines and breaking news as well as hot topics and interviews. Available on Listnr.