SAPOL has initiated ‘Operation Danger’ targeting dangerous road user behaviour in regional and metropolitan areas.
The operation started at midnight on Monday and will run through to midnight on Sunday and target dangerous road users who drive in a manner dangerous or without due care, disobey traffic lights and signs, fail to keep left when required, follow too close, engage in dangerous lane changes, misuse of motor vehicle and drink and drug driving offences in both metropolitan and regional areas.
In announcing the operation, SAPOL said in the financial year 2022-23, drivers on South Australian roads committed a significant number of offences that will be targeted during Operation Danger.
This has included;
1629 detections of Dangerous Driving offences (Extreme Speed/Manner Dangerous/Due Care)
3058 detection of Follow Too Close offences
7526 detections of Disobey Traffic Lights/Fail to Give Way offences
473 detections of Change Lanes to Danger offences
1181 detections of Failing to keep left
3039 detections of Tailgating offences
21 detections of Misuse of motor vehicle (hoon driving) offence
SAPOL’s Officer on Charge of Traffic Services Branch Superintendent Darren Fielke said Operation Danger was a new approach to fulfilling SAPOL’s role to educate road users and to also enforce safe road use in South Australia.
“The Operation Danger mission is the reduction of harm from vehicle collisions as a result of dangerous road user behaviours,” he said.
“Each collision on South Australian roads is analysed in detail by SAPOL’s Traffic Services Branch.
Our analyses tell us that as at August 2023, 21 lives have been lost due to dangerous road user behaviour.
That’s 21 lives lost too many.
Since this equates to 27% of all lives lost in 2023, we know that dangerous road use is a significant issue and will be targeted with full force during this operation.”
Supt Fielke said penalties and sanctions for offences that will be targeted during Operation Danger range from cautions to fines, vehicle impoundment, immediate loss of licence and imprisonment.
Operation Danger is one of a suite of road safety operations focused on educating and enforcing specific safe road user behaviours throughout the year.
“This year there have been 77 lives lost and 564 serious injuries on South Australian roads, exceeding last year’s total of lives lost in only eight months,” Supt Fielke said.
“Conducting targeted road safety operations such as Operation Danger are designed to stop this number increasing and ultimately drive down the number of lives lost and serious injuries.”
