A new school holiday road safety campaign, Operation Sierra Cold Snap, has been launched by the Queensland Police Service (QPS).
The police will coordinate the State-wide operation with the aim of reducing fatal and serious traffic crashes and improving road safety over the busy school holiday period and into the first week of returning to school.
Commissioner of Police, Katarina Carroll said that with COVID-19 restrictions easing, Queenslanders would be out exploring during their holidays, but it was important they travelled safely.
“We are in a unique situation where families will be taking advantage of being able to travel further away from home for the school holidays and we expect traffic to increase significantly on our road network,” Commissioner Carroll said.
“If you are travelling on the roads over the coming weeks, you will see a highly visible police presence, as well as roadside drug and alcohol testing and speed camera operations with a focus on those areas where we expect to see an increase in road users.”
She said the operation would reinforce the fatal five factors — fatigue, speeding, drink/drug driving, distraction and seat belt use.
“As people get back on the roads, we are encouraging everyone to make safe choices as we know this is how we can stop serious injuries and lives lost on our roads,” Commissioner Carroll said.
Minister for Police, Mark Ryan said tourism in Queensland was “good to go”.
“This operation is to ensure the safety of all road users, so if you see officers out and about or are stopped for a random driver test, know that they have your safety in mind,” Mr Ryan said.
