Police issued a staggering 7,221 traffic offences throughout Victoria over a 4-day period

A staggering 7,221 traffic offences in Victoria over the Kings Birthday long weekend in what was known as operation Regal. This represented a 20% increase on the same period last year.
"Our members made a huge commitment to Operation Regal and were particularly focused on roadside alcohol and drug testing and proactive patrols targeting speed, distraction and unauthorised driving," said Road Policing Assistant Commissioner, Mick Hermans.
"The reality is, we will only issue infringements when there is blatant non-compliance with the road rules." Over the recent 4-day long weekend in Victoria in celebration for the Kings Birthday, the police were out in force. Out of the 7,221 traffic offences 3,311 were for speeding with 75% in the range of 10-25 km/h over the limit.
Victoria Police say its commitment to road policing across the entire workforce was key to the operation's success - with state, local and regional highway patrols joined by specialist road policing units, general duties police and the Public Order Response Team to proactively patrol the state's roads.
A clear agenda was focused on widespread alcohol and drug testing - with police delivering 115,993 preliminary breath tests and 2,778 roadside drug tests over the four days.
Police caught 249 drink drivers - a 21% increase on the same enforcement period last year, and a strike rate of one in every 465 tested caught over the limit.
A further 144 drug driving offences (drugdrivingoffences.com.au) were also detected.
The 4-day campaign saw a total of 390 disqualified/suspended/unlicensed drivers (unlicenseddriving.com.au) caught driving without a current valid driver's license.
There was also a noticeable increase in mobile phone and device offences, with 292 infringements issued, up from 151 detected during Operation Regal last year.
It brings to attention the importance of if you were charged with an offence and will be attending court that the importance of quality representation is essential when it comes to sentencing. We spoke with Phil Simpson, who has over 25 years-experience as a Barrister in predominantly representing clients with traffic/ driving and criminal matters in the magistrates courts of Victoria. Phil has offered to speak to anyone who was charged over the 4-day long weekend to minimise any potential loss of license and time off the road. He can offer valuable advice to those charged with drink driving offences and/or drug driving charges. The report didn't confirm out of the 390 charged with driving while suspended / driving unlicensed / driving while disqualified (drivingwhiledisqualified.com.au) charges also involved another infringement.
To summarise the 7,221 traffic offences (trafficlawyersmelbourne.com) detected during Operation Regal included:
• 3,311 speeding offences
• 491 disobey signs/signals
• 390 disqualified/suspended/unlicenced drivers
• 292 mobile phone offences
• 249 drink driving offences ( drinkdrivingoffences.com.au )from 115,993 preliminary breath tests
• 144 drug driving offences from 2,778 roadside drug tests
• 105 vehicle impounds
• 87 seatbelt offences
• 511 unregistered vehicles
"The fact we detected so many offences this weekend just highlights that so many motorists are knowingly breaking the rules - and we cannot accept this," said Asst Commissioner Hermans.
"We saw significant uplift in infringements issued for speeding, impairment and distraction, and we know these behaviours are all leading contributing factors in fatal and serious injury collisions on our roads.
There have now been 111 lives lost on Victorian roads in 2026 - down from 135 at the same time last year. Operation Regal saw officers highly visible and targeting high-risk driving behaviour across the state's roads, in an effort to reduce road trauma.

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Chris Spencer
Level 1, 63-73 Ann Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010

Phil Simpson has been helping Victorians for over 25 years in relation to driving and traffic offences.

This release was published on openPR.