Lachlan Shire residents are being reminded as the community gets ready to celebrate Australia Day and school holidays are about to come to an end for thousands of local students, that double demerit points will be in force for a five-day period.
Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said that double demerit points would be in force from Wednesday, 25 January to Sunday, 29 January (inclusive) for all speeding, seatbelt, motorcycle helmet and mobile phone offences.
“As Friday, 27 January is a gazetted school day, school zones will be in operation. Drivers are reminded that additional penalties can apply for certain offences committed in school zones,” she explained.
“Since their introduction in 1997, double demerit points have proven to be a successful deterrent to unsafe driving behaviours and reducing the road toll on holiday periods when the roads are at their busiest. There’s been a 30 per cent reduction in casualty crashes that are directly attributable to double demerits.
“Please drive safely and take extra care on the roads this holiday period. Driving over the speed limit to save a couple of minutes, pushing on driving when you are tired, answering or looking at your mobile phone whilst behind the wheel and driving after a few drinks, isn’t worth the risk of not arriving at all,” Ms Suitor concluded.
Key double demerit points that will be in force are:
•Exceed the speed limit by 10km/h and under
•Exceed the speed limit by over 10km/h
•Exceed the speed limit by over 20km/h
•Exceed the speed limit by over 30km/h
•Exceed the speed limit by over 45km/h
•Driver not wearing own seatbelt
•Driver penalty for each passenger not wearing a seatbelt
•Rider on a motorcycle not wearing own helmet
•Rider penalty for passenger on a motorcycle not wearing a helmet
•Use a mobile phone while driving