The Hume Highway isn’t the Autobahn, but police officers from New South Wales have nabbed several drivers this week who seem to think it is.
Several drivers have been caught by police as part of a crackdown on speeding and dangerous driving on the Hume Highway called Operation Furious.
On Monday June 17 at 10:35pm, police pulled over a BMW driver and a Mitsubishi driver on the Home Motorway in Woodbine for allegedly racing, with both clocked at a speed of 212km/h in a 110km/h zone.
The 23-year-old driver of one vehicle, from Queensland, had his driving privileges suspended in New South Wales; the 24-year-old, NSW-licenced driver of the other vehicle had his licence suspended.
Both drivers were issued with future court attendance notices for organising or promoting a race between vehicles, ‘drive recklessly/furiously or speed/manner dangerous’, and exceeding the speed limit by over 45km/h.
On Monday at 7am, police pulled over a green P-plater in a Volkswagen Golf in Mittagong for allegedly doing 191km/h in a 110km/h zone.
Based on his P2 licence, he should have been travelling at a speed no greater than 100km/h.
The driver was issued with an infringement notice for ‘P2 driver exceed speed limit – over 45km/h’ and was given a $2794 fine and a six-month licence suspension.
Two more drivers were pulled over in the following 90 minutes for allegedly speeding.
Police allege the first, who was doing 148km/h in a 110km/h zone, said they were “late for an exam” when pulled over.
The second was allegedly travelling at 156km/h with family in the car, but admitted they were speeding.
Both drivers were given a $1036 fine and five demerit points for exceeding the speed limit by over 30km/h.
Operation Furious is running from Monday, June 17 to Thursday, June 20, targeting speeders and dangerous drivers on the Hume Highway from Sydney to Albury on the border with Victoria.
Victoria Police is also conducting a similar operation from border town Wodonga to Melbourne, though it’s calling its crackdown by a less exciting name: Operation Hamilton.
More than 180 NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol officers will be deployed north of the border in marked and unmarked vehicles conducting both stationary and random speed enforcements.
In the first 24 hours of Operation Furious, NSW officers detected 104 speeding drivers and conducted 349 random breath tests (with one positive result) and 79 random drug tests (with five positive results).
“We know more than 21 thousand motorists use this stretch of road every day. Since June 2023, there has been more than 350 major collisions on the Hume Highway resulting in 7 people losing their lives,” said the Traffic and Highway Patrol South West Commander, Superintendent Rob Toynton.
“We make no apologies for targeting drivers driving dangerously and putting themselves – and more importantly – other road users at risk.
“We are reminding motorists to drive to the conditions, have a plan B if you’re drinking, stick to the speed limit, wear a seatbelt and don’t take unnecessary risks because everyone deserves to arrive at their destination safely.”
The Hume Highway, sections of which are called the Hume Freeway or Hume Motorway, runs for 840km between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast.
