Police slam drink and drug drivers caught on Pilbara roads over Easter

Pilbara traffic police have expressed their bewilderement at the number of drink and drug drivers caught on the road across the region over the Easter long weekend. From Thursday to Monday about 1100 vehicles were stopped in the Pilbara with 10 drink drivers caught over the legal limit, while four of the 29 drivers stopped for drug tests were charged with driving while having methylamphetamine in their system. Pilbara Traffic district traffic coordinator Sergeant Ian Morris said these numbers were well above normal, and most drivers doing the wrong thing were either coming back home from licensed premises or going to fast food outlets. “(We are) extremely disappointed and probably bewildered by the number of drink drivers and drug drivers that were apprehended,” he said. “We are happy that we got them off the road. “To have 10 people drink driving and the four that were drug driving is quite disappointing, especially considering Easter is the time of the year that statistically is likely to have fatal or serious crashes out on the road. “We also seized six vehicles, and most of those were in Karratha, for driving while under suspension. That is a significant number.” Sergeant Morris said speeding was down with only 20 fines issued, which was lower than usual. “Credit where credit is due. Congratulations to those that sat on the speed limit,” he said. “The volume of traffic was significantly less than a normal long weekend. But we did notice that a lot of people had left before the Easter long weekend. “It appears that most people left a little bit earlier anticipating the roads might be busy because of the volume of traffic due to COVID.”