Police have detected more than 100 traffic offences through a special police operation targeting the region’s main rural roads.
Shepparton Highway Patrol Acting Sergeant Murray Moser said police had been patrolling rural roads with high speed limits for an extra shift a week since the start of March.
In that time, 95 speeding offences were detected, and six drivers lost their licences on the spot as a result, he said.
Sgt Moser said police also caught 10 drug drivers and one drink driver in that time.
People driving without seat belts and driving while using mobile phones also contributed to the 142 traffic offences detected.
Sgt Moser said the number of offences detected was “disappointing”.
“People do die on rural roads,” Sgt Moser said.
“We’re still getting people not wearing seat belts and using mobile phones.”
Roads targeted by the operation included Toolamba Rd, Lancaster-Echuca Rd, Katamatite Rd, Barmah Rd, Midland Hwy and the Goulburn Valley Hwy.
The roads targeted were determined to be high risk according to road accident statistics.
Sgt Moser said the message continued to be the same.
“It’s the same old message: concentrate on driving,” he said.
Since the beginning of the year, the Transport Accident Commission recorded 76 fatalities on regional Victorian roads, compared to 57 last year.
The operation ran from March 1 to June 28.