26 September 2023

Traffic police find roads not COVID-like

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ACT Road Policing has issued a warning to drivers on Canberra’s roads as part of the current lockdown arrangements.

Acting Inspector of Road Policing for ACT Policing, Stephen Booth said that generally Canberrans were doing a great job complying with restrictions, however, the volume of cars on ACT roads indicated that many were not.

“Road Policing officers are concerned that many people are driving without a legitimate reason,” Acting Inspector Booth said.

“This is leading to more vehicles on the road than there should be,” he said.

“As the ACT is now in its third week of lockdown restrictions, police are reminding citizens that there are only a few reasons to be on the road.”

Acting Inspector Booth said police were concerned that people saw the public health restrictions as flexible and had observed an increasing number of cars on the road as lockdown progressed.

He said this indicated that people did not understand what was considered essential, and were not recognising that each trip greatly increased their chances of coming into contact with others.

“Now more than ever it is not the time to start relaxing,” he said.

“We need people to stay focused so we can get through this as quickly as possible together.”

Acting Inspector Booth said police would continue their ‘anytime, anywhere’ policy of checking vehicles and conducting traffic stops.

He said officers would be asking drivers and passengers to provide legitimate reasons to be outside of their homes and people who were unable to provide a satisfactory reason may face fines of up to $1000 for being in breach of the health directions.

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