A major traffic operation targeting drink and drug drivers was held in Launceston today.

Senior Sergeant Nick Clark said that a number of static and mobile random breath testing sites were positioned at various locations near Launceston as part of the operation.

Between 10am-1pm, Police conducted 1000 random breath tests and 20 oral fluid tests.

Of these, seven drivers returned positive results for drugs, one driver exceeded 0.05, a number of people were charged with minor drugs offences and four unlicensed drivers were issued with traffic infringement notices.

A number of drivers were also issued with infringement notices for minor traffic offences and a small number were charged in relation to minor ammunition storage offences.

“It’s pleasing that the majority of drivers continue to do the right thing on our roads, but there’s always a small number of drivers who continue to put their lives and the lives of others at risk,” Senior Sergeant Clark said.

“Drugs and alcohol are significant contributing factors in road crashes, and are one of the ‘Fatal Five’ behaviours targeted by Tasmania Police in our road safety activities.

“Over the past 10 years, drugs and alcohol have been a contributing factor, on average, in 25% of serious and fatal injury crashes.

“There has been a reduction in the percentage of crashes where alcohol was a factor over that time, but drugs have remained relatively constant and Tasmania Police is continuing to target drug driving as part of our enforcement operations.”

“People who choose to drive while under the influence of illicit substances continue to be a concern, and Tasmania Police is committed to keeping our roads safe through focused enforcement activity on drink and drug driving,” Senior Sergeant Clark said.

“We want everyone to get home safely and to ensure that, we have to make sure everyone uses the roads safely – remember Tasmania Police could be anywhere, anytime.”