Take responsibility, Riverina cops urge after hundreds busted in blitz

Officers attached to the Riverina Highway Patrol were out in force during a statewide Christmas-New Year road safety blitz that began on December 22, and wrapped up at 11.59pm on New Year's Day.

During the operation, police issued more than 500 infringement notices to motorists caught offending in the district.

Riverina Highway Patrol Inspector Darren Moulds said the number of people caught driving with drugs in their system was concerning.

"Just under 8500 breath tests were conducted across the Riverina Police District and just under 700 random drug tests - of that there were just over 500 infringement notices issued, of those, 211 were for speeding," Inspector Moulds said.

"There were 14 people detected drink-driving and 45 people detected driving with drugs in their system.

"That is concerning that there were 45 people out there driving motor vehicles on our roads with drugs in their system."

Other offences including mobile phone usage while driving and drivers not wearing seatbelts were pleasingly low throughout the operation, but speeding continued to be a problem.

"People need to obey the road rules, stick to the speed limit but also drive to the conditions - if it's raining reduce your speed, if you're not familiar with the road, reduce your speed," Inspector Moulds said.

"People need to take responsibility for their own driving."

Fortunately, there were no fatalities this year on Riverina roads over the Christmas period, however, the overall 2023 road toll had increased last year compared to 2022.

"We are continuing to do both breath testing and drug testing and we will continue to do that in 2024," Inspector Moulds said.

"Attending fatal crashes affects emergency services, the families and the wider community."