School zones in road safety spotlight today

The road safety blitz will be state-wide in both the morning and afternoon peak periods.

Superintendent Bob Gray, the officer in charge of the Traffic Support Branch, said police were determined to take whatever action was necessary to protect our most vulnerable road users – children on their way to and from school.

“This is a regular operation by South Australia Police,” he said. “Sometimes we warn the community we will be conducting it, and sometimes we don’t, but motorists should always be conscious of their responsibilities on our roads.

“Any police officer can pull over any vehicle at any time to undergo a breath test so we would urge the community to always consider that fact before driving.

“This testing regime is in place for good reason - a number of people have tested positive in school zones to alcohol and a range of drugs, including Methylamphetamine, since SAPOL first specifically began testing in these zones in 2015.

“They are exposing both their children and the children of other people to increased risk of harm.

”This is unacceptable to police and we believe the community would expect us to do all we can to deter this behaviour.”

The operation will take place near school zones state-wide during both the morning and afternoon peak drop-off and pick-up times.

Motorists should remember that under the Road Traffic Act 1961, it is an offence to drive or attempt to drive a motor vehicle with THC (Cannabis), Methylamphetamine (Speed, Ice or Crystal Meth) or MDMA (Ecstasy) present in their oral fluid or blood.

Unlike the .05 blood alcohol limit, there is no limit when it comes to drugs - it is an offence for a motorist to get behind the wheel of a vehicle with any illicit drugs in their system.