Making this season not so silly

As police hit saturation point on our roads in the lead up to Christmas party and drink-driving season, Lake Illawarra Local Area Command Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Jason Bentley had a blunt warning for people contemplating getting behind the wheel after drinking.

“We see the results of when it goes wrong and it’s not pretty,’’ Sgt Bentley said.

Sgt Bentley said while a reduced number of licensed premises compared to other areas such as Wollongong meant that the Local Area Command had less incidence of drink-driving, they tended to be more serious.

“Statistically our drink-driving-related accidents and fatalities are higher,’’ he said.

“It’s not so much the number but the results are worse.”

Sgt Bentley said Police attached to the command conducted in excess of 8000 mobile and stationary breath tests a month with in excess of 30 people being charged per month.

The officer provided details for four offences in October for which three people were charged with mid-range drink-driving and six so far for November – five of which carried charges of mid-range PCA (Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol) and one high range PCA.

Sgt Bentley said while such data was far from exhaustive it provided an overview of the types of offences committed within the command.

“Drink-driving is a crime and not socially acceptable within the community,’’ he said. “Lake Illawarra police are continually frustrated by the behaviour of some motorists who choose to break the law and put other road users’ lives at risk.’’

Police from the Lake Illawarra Command are taking part in on-going state-wide operations including Operation Drink Drive 2.

Sgt Bentley said the command would also be joining officers in operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers) which kicked off around the country last Friday.

During the last RAID operation enough people were breath tested in the Illawarra and South Coast to fill Wollongong’s WIN Stadium.