One will be charged under the hoon legislation, while the other will face various driving charges after blowing more than three times the limit — before 9am.
An 18-year-old Echuca man was arrested for hooning at the intersection of Anstruther and High streets at 11.50pm on Friday, March 5.
The black Holden station wagon was seen accelerating heavily, causing the wheels to screech, lose traction with the road and slide through the intersection.
The car was immediately impounded for 30 days, at a cost of $1005, and the man is expected to be charged on summons with various driving offences.
Another car was impounded on Monday morning after police responded to calls from the public about concerns over the behaviour of a man at Echuca McDonald's about 7.30am.
Acting Sergeant Corey Holland of Campaspe Highway Patrol said a 34-year-old NSW man was stopped when leaving McDonald's before recording a blood alcohol concentration 0.152.
The man’s vehicle was impounded at a cost of $1005, his licence was immediately suspended, and he will be summonsed to appear at Echuca Magistrate's Court at a later date for drink driving, refusing to complete a drug test, failing to wear a seatbelt and driving on the wrong side of the road.
‘‘This is very much the type of driver behaviour we would rather avoid,’’ Sgt Holland said.
‘‘People often don’t realise how much of a risk they are on the morning after the night before.
‘‘We would prefer everyone take the time to think ahead when planning their next day’s travel. And don’t drink into the early hours of the morning and have a good sleep.’’
The man was one of four motorists caught for drunk or drug driving-related offences as part of the four-day Operation Arid.
‘‘With people coming out of lockdown, and the long weekend, we knew there would be a great increase in traffic locally — especially given the Murray River is a popular tourist destination,’’ Sgt Holland said.
‘‘Having the extra traffic in the area was already going to increase the risk to road users. Fortunately it appears as though we had no major or serious injury collisions our area.’’
However, he said police issued a few penalty notices for unregistered vehicles/trailers, offences relating to road signs and road markings, as well as speeding.
‘‘Speeds were mostly between 117km/h to 124km/h and a lot of this was in more rural areas outside of Echuca,’’ he said.
‘‘We saw how many vehicles were on the road Monday. If you throw a few high-risk drivers that are still fatigued, or suffering the effects of drug/alcohol consumption into the mix, then the opportunity for disaster is horrifically increased.
‘‘I think that we were lucky we didn’t have to deal with that sort of scenario playing out on Monday when everyone was going home.’’
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