The Far South Coast has a new top cop patrolling our roads, but what he’s seen in his first weeks here is cause for alarm.
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Sergeant Adam Kite arrived two weeks ago as the new NSW Highway Patrol Supervisor for the region.
But during a two-day operation this week, his team had a 50 per cent hit rate for drivers detected with illegal drugs in their system.
Assuming a random sample of motorists, those results point to every second driver coming towards you on our roads having cannabis or methamphetamine in their system.
“It’s pretty alarming, especially considering the amount of advertising [on safe driving],” Sergeant Kite said. “The message is not going to change – don’t speed, don’t drink, don’t do drugs and drive.”
The message is not going to change – don’t speed, don’t drink, don’t do drugs and drive.
- Sergeant Adam Kite
He said mobile phone use while driving had decreased a little through the use of Bluetooth technology, but texting remains an issue – and not a small one.
“Texting is a big thing to distract you from driving – it’s close to impossible to do while concentrating on the road. These aren’t minor issues – they can have catastrophic consequences.”
Sergeant Kite said he has seen a “huge culture shift” away from drink driving, with ongoing advertising campaigns the likely driving force.
“Hopefully we’ll see that with drugs as well,” he said.
Sergeant Kite is one of six Highway Patrol officers covering the southern half of the Far South Coast Local Area Command, with another team and supervisor based in Batemans Bay.
“All the staff here have 20-plus years in the police so there is a lot of experience and local knowledge.”
As well as the positive drug readings, he said they had caught numerous drink drivers in recent weeks as well as several speeding – including one driver on the long weekend allegedly clocked at 181kmh on Tathra Rd at Jellat!
“That’s a recipe for disaster – you are not going to survive a crash at that speed,” Sergeant Kite said.
Helping Highway Patrol catch these offenders are cars fitted with considerable technology – video and audio recording, radar and laser speed detection units, and infra-red cameras that work in all weather conditions, day or night.
They also have the ability to photograph and instantly process every single licence plate the car passes looking for potential offences linked with that vehicle.