Operation Zero has highlighted several specific road rules as a future focus for Tasmania Police.

“While the majority of drivers pay attention and obey the rules, it was surprising how many drivers took a risk despite the warning that Operation Zero was underway,” said Acting Deputy Commissioner, Donna Adams.

Around 200 police officers were involved in the 24 hour road safety operation, which was a practical reminder to drivers on some of the state’s ‘crash hotspot’ urban roads to stick to the rules.

“In one hour at the busy Hobart intersection of Davey and Murray Streets, more than 17 drivers were caught driving through a red light and 4 drivers were pulled over for using mobile phones,” said Ms Adams.

“It’s only a degree of good luck which separates running a red light from a serious crash with fatal consequences.”

Operation Zero also highlighted using mobile phones while driving, disobeying road markings, speeding and not wearing seatbelts as issues in urban areas.

Road safety is a priority for Tasmania Police and it’s something that we focus on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“The aim of Operation Zero was to raise awareness of the road rules and the consequences when they’re ignored.  There were about 6,000 crashes in Tasmania last year and failing to obey basic road rules was a factor in many of those,“ said Ms Adams.

“Through our traffic operation and our education campaign on social media, via the Tasmania Police Facebook page, we have identified a number of issues which will inform our focus for future operations.”

“Throughout the 24 hours police issued cautions to drivers where possible, and infringements were only issued if a driver had already received a recent caution for driving offences.”

Among the results for Operation Zero were;

Disobey lights  – 34 cautions / 50 infringements
Mobile phones – 8 cautions / 29 infringements
Fail to indicate/give way – 10 cautions / 15 infringements
Speeding offences – 28 cautions / 96 infringements
Seatbelt offences – 7 cautions / 21 infringements
5 drivers were caught drink driving