South West police target death toll

After the spate in fatalities on regional roads this year, South West traffic police are pleading with drivers to make the right decisions on the roads this Christmas.

As holiday-makers start to hit the roads, police have warned “the usual” driver distractions would be targeted.

South West traffic Senior Constable Tim Dennison said the police were expecting more traffic on the roads this year because of international travel being off the cards.

“There have been a number of fatalities this year, more than usual and we want to try and reduce that over the holiday period,” Const. Dennison said.

“We often get people from the city who are not used to country roads and they just need to be more mindful they may not be used to the roads they are travelling on.

We have been to a number of fatalities over the last few weeks, it’s not pleasant for anyone involved and it’s especially traumatic for their families who will suffer long term.

As well as traffic police, highway patrol cars from metropolitan Perth will also be roaming the regional roads.

Highway Patrol regional enforcement unit Midland Senior Constable Tony Camillo said there was in excess of 40 staff patrolling the area from now through to the new year.

“This is an unknown festive season in that we have a pandemic going on and so we are not sure of road user numbers,” Sen. Const. Camillo said.

“But that will not reduce our commitment to target unsafe user behaviour, when we come down here we know what to expect, who to target and what to look for. We purposely seek those people out and we make no apologies about it.

We hope people are aware that we are out there, we will be very visible and target anyone that plays up.