Police are urging the community to think of others on the road after a significant number of dangerous driving incidents across the Mid North Coast during a road safety enforcement operation over the festive season.
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Just before 7pm on New year's Day, officers attached to Manning Great Lakes Highway Patrol responded to a driving complaint at Lakes Way, Forster.
Police stopped a Holden Rodeo utility and the driver was subjected to a roadside breath test, which returned a positive result.
The man was taken to Forster Police Station and underwent a secondary breath analysis, which retuned an alleged reading of 0.181.
His driver's licence was suspended, and he was issued a court attendance notice for high range PCA.
About 9pm, police stopped the car again leaving a carpark at Lakes Way. Officers spoke to the driver, before he was again subjected to a roadside breath test, returning a positive result.
He was taken to Foster Police Station, where a secondary breath analysis returned an alleged reading of 0.138.
He was charged with mid-range PCA and drive while suspended.
The Forster man was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Forster Local Court on February 16.
About 5pm on Christmas eve, officers attached to Mid North Coast Highway Patrol were called to the Pacific Highway at Kew, following reports a grey Toyota was travelling at speed.
About 5.10pm, the vehicle was sighted by police travelling 126km/h in a 110km/h signposted area, north along the Pacific Highway at Lake Innes.
The driver, a 24-year-old Gladesville woman, was subjected to a roadside breath test which allegedly returned a positive result.
She was arrested and taken to Port Macquarie Police Station where she underwent a secondary breath analysis, which returned an alleged reading of 0.224.
The woman's driver's licence was suspended, and she was charged with high range PCA and Class A motor vehicle exceed speed more than 10km/h. She is due to appear at Port Macquarie Local Court on February 2.
About 5.50pm on Boxing Day, officers attached to Mid North Coast Highway Patrol stopped the driver of a Land Rover station wagon after the vehicle was detected travelling at 202km/h in a 110km/h signposted zone on the Pacific Highway near Port Macquarie.
The driver, a 35-year-old Daleys Point man, had his licence was suspended and he was issued a court attendance notice for drive recklessly/furiously or speed/manner dangerous and Class A motor vehicle exceed speed more than 45km/h.
He is due to appear at Port Macquarie Local Court on February 16.
Operation Christmas/New Year 2021 commenced at 12.01am on Christmas Eve and concluded at 11.59pm on January 3.
Double demerit points were in force for the duration of the operation for speeding, mobile phone, seatbelt, and motorcycle helmet offences.
The Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, together with local police, patrolled roads across the state, targeting double demerit offences and the Fours Ds - drink, drug, dangerous and distracted driving - with the aim of preventing injury and death.
During the period, police saw a concerning number of dangerous driving incidents, including excessive speed, high-range drink-driving, and reckless driving.
Across the state, police issued 8414 speed infringements, laid 580 drink-driving charges, attended 624 major crashes, and conducted 230,366 breath tests.
Five people died in crashes over the period, the same number during the operation last year. In 2021, 269 people lost their lives on NSW roads, compared to 283 the previous year (2020).
Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Assistant Commissioner Stephen Hegarty, said police will continue to target behaviour that endangers lives on NSW roads.
"Over the festive season, we saw a number of concerning incidents of dangerous driving, including a learner driver allegedly detected high-range drink-driving at Griffith, and a woman who allegedly crashed into a road sign while drink-driving at Glenfield," Assistant Commissioner Hegarty said.
"We will continue to have a zero-tolerance approach to law breakers. The end of the double demerit operation isn't an excuse to forget the road rules, including the speed limit.
"Highway Patrol officers, together with local police, will continue to have a high-visibility presence in metro and regional areas across the state, targeting speeding, fatigue, and drink, drug, dangerous and distracted driving," Assistant Commissioner Hegarty said.