Speeding driver had licence suspended hours earlier

A police crackdown on speeding over the long weekend saw a man pulled over west of Byron Bay who’d had his licence suspended in Queensland just hours earlier.

Just after midnight on Saturday (October 1), Highway Patrol officers stopped a Toyota Hilux utility travelling south on the Pacific Highway at Ewingsdale.

They allege the male driver was travelling 170kmh in a 100km/h zone. The driver was stopped and submitted to a roadside breath test where he provided a positive result.

He was arrested and taken to Byron Bay police station where he allegedly provided a blood alcohol sample of 0.097. The 24-year-old man from Queensland was charged with mid-range drink-driving, drive at a speed dangerous, exceed speed over 45km/h and drive while suspended.

Police have been told the man was allegedly stopped earlier that night by Queensland Police and charged with drink driving; his licence was suspended in Queensland before he was again caught by NSW Police.

About 7.05am Saturday, Highway Patrol police allegedly detected a sedan travelling at 170km/h in a 100km/h zone on the Pacific Highway at Glenugie.

The driver, a Korean national, was issued with a traffic infringement notice for exceed speed over 45km/h and had his driving licence provisions suspended in NSW.

The arrests are part of Operation Slowdown – a high-visibility statewide traffic operation – commenced at 12.01am on Thursday 29 September 2016 and will run until 11.59pm on Monday 3 October 2016.

There have been no fatalities recorded so far during the four-day operation, compared with three during the same period last year (2015).

Officers have breath-tested 51,085 drivers so far during the operation resulting in 43 charges.

Police have however, issued 3176 traffic infringement notices for speeding, an increase of 428 issued compared with the same period in 2015.