The operation aimed to minimise road trauma and involved regional and state Highway Patrol members patrolling the freeway between Melbourne and Wodonga.
This operation ran simultaneously with NSW Police’s Operation Furious, which covers the freeway from Albury to Sydney.
“We teamed up with NSW Police to conduct an extensive road policing operation that (covered) over 600km of the Hume Fwy,” Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said.
“As one of the state’s major roads, the Hume Fwy experiences a significant amount of road trauma, and we’re doing everything we can to prevent this.
“We’re asking all motorists to take extra care when travelling on the Hume — stick to the speed limits, be mindful of sharing the road with other road users and manage fatigue by taking regular breaks on longer trips.
“We need to keep all road users accountable, so we won’t hesitate to penalise you if you’re caught breaking the road rules.”
The combined cross-border operations focused on behaviours contributing to road trauma, including speeding, distraction, seatbelt non-use and drink and drug driving.
The Wangaratta and Wodonga region has witnessed a concerning increase in road trauma in 2023, with 25 fatal collisions — a rise of 10 from the previous year — and 187 serious injury collisions, a 10 per cent surge.
Roughly 20 per cent of these incidents occurred on or near the Hume Fwy.
In the previous Operation Hamilton, police intercepted 200 vehicles, identified 35 speeding offences, seven unregistered vehicles, three unlicensed drivers, impounded two vehicles and issued seven defect notices.
Furthermore, 388 preliminary breath tests and 49 roadside drug tests were conducted.
Motorists are advised to always exercise caution while travelling on the Hume Fwy.
Operation Hamilton began on Monday, June 17 and concluded at 11:59pm on Thursday, June 20.
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