GAWLER police have thanked locals for celebrating the New Year safely in the town, but are concerned their road safety message is failing to reach motorists after a number of high-range drink driving reports.
Barossa Local Service Area (LSA) police breath tested 936 people between December 14 and January 1 as part of its Operation Safe Holidays campaign, with seven returning a positive result.
The positive detections included a 36-year-old Evanston man who was reported for speeding and drink driving after he returned a breath test result of 0.191 – nearly four times the legal limit – on
Christmas Day.
On New Years Day, a Virginia man was reported for drink driving after returning a positive test of 0.137.
Barossa LSA chief inspector Shane Addison said police were unhappy their road safety message was failing to sink in.
“A number of people have failed to heed the message, and we have had a substantial number of drink and drug driving detections during the festive period,” he said.
“That’s of significant concern to us.
“We had a significant number of road-related deaths last year and there’s been a lot of public messaging in relation to people doing the right thing by not drinking and driving and not driving under the influence of drugs.
“We continue to see those detections, and that’s of great concern to us because those people are putting themselves and other road users at risk.”
Operation Safe Holidays ran across the state, with around 12 per cent of people drug tested in South Australia returning a positive reading for THC (cannabis), methylamphetamine or MDMA in
their system.
Despite the disappointing end to the year on Gawler’s roads, police were happy with the behaviour of locals throughout the town’s pubs and outdoor areas, particularly on New Years Eve.
“We really haven’t had any significant events inside the town itself,” chief inspector Addison said.
“We thank the public for enjoying the festive season in those licensed premises and out in public areas which didn’t create any problems for the police. I think that’s fantastic.”