WIMMERA police have ramped up their presence for the Australia Day long weekend with a clear message that drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol will be prosecuted.
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Wimmera and Northern Grampians region road policing Acting Senior Sergeant Dale McIvor said police had detected a number of speeding and drug drivers already.
"There haven't been too many drink drivers this weekend but a lot of people are still speeding. The message is for people to slow down and have a healthy respect for their fellow drivers," he said.
"We've done a number of preliminary breath tests at many locations which is a good deterrent. We'll still have a large presence up until the end of the long weekend.
"We have also done a number of drug tests and had quite a few positive detections for the presence of illicit substances. It's not abnormal for us to have drug drivers in our area and our aim is to get them off the roads."
Acting Senior Sergeant McIvor said police had the capability to conduct random drug tests at any random breath test stop.
"Not everyone we pull over for a breath test gets tested for drugs and we do it on a case-by-case basis," he said.
"The test itself only takes a few minutes. We get the driver to rub a piece of plastic on their tongue. We can then detect whether they have in their system one or more of the three illicit drugs we test for."
If illicit substances are detected, police then conduct an oral fluid test which is sent to a laboratory for analysis.
"If a person refuses to provide police with a sample, we can charge them with refusal or request for a blood test," he said.
Victoria Police's Operation Amity will end at 11.59pm on Monday.
Drink driver almost four times over legal limit
HORSHAM police officers intercepted a driver leaving Horsham's Royal Hotel on Saturday morning.
Police conducted a preliminary breath test on the driver who returned a reading of 0.184. This is almost four times the legal limit.
The driver lost their licence and will appear at Horsham Magistrates' Court at a later date. Their car will be impounded for 30 days at the cost of $1455.
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