Authorities said close to half of the offences detected during the road safety blitz were drivers caught excessively speeding.
Victoria Police identified more than 500 traffic offences across snow-impacted roads in the state during a road operation in July.
The safety blitz, dubbed Operation Eastern Snow, prioritised roads heading to and from snowfields including Mt Buller, Falls Creek and Mount Hotham.
Authorities said officers identified 523 traffic offences during the road operation – of which 247 infringements were issued to drivers caught excessively speeding between 10km/h to 25km/h above the sign-posted speed limit.
Victoria Police – alongside Safe Transport Victoria – said it also focused on heavy vehicles like buses, with police checking the safety compliance of these cars at various checkpoints.
Close to 20 per cent of road infringements were handed to drivers operating heavy vehicles, with police stating “false and misleading logbook entries”, overloaded vehicles and “failing to secure loads” were the most common violations.
A further 45 offences were linked to drivers caught using unregistered vehicles and an additional 45 defect notices were issued to motorists during Operation Eastern Snow.
Police said the road operation will continue throughout August, with authorities warning drivers they could be issued a $370 fine for not carrying a snow chain and/or a $970 penalty for not having them properly fitted to the vehicle.
“It’s concerning that we’ve seen such high levels of noncompliance on the roads by motorists travelling to and from the snowfields.
“Some of these roads have been significantly impacted by ice and snow in recent weeks, yet we continue to catch people for speeding and engaging in dangerous behaviours that put all road users at risk,” Eastern Region Road Policing Inspector, Jarrad Dowsell, said in a media statement.
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