Shock! Drink driving down in Tweed this Christmas
THE number of drink-drivers charged in the Tweed during a Christmas traffic blitz was down on previous years.
Police were out in force in the Tweed during Operation Safe Arrival conducting 2643 breath tests and charged 17 drivers with drink-driving offences.
The blitz ran from December 21 until midnight January 4.
There were 2961 drivers breath tested in the same blitz 12 months earlier with 27 drivers charged with drink-driving.
Senior Sergeant Bill Darnell said he was happy that the number people caught drink driving was down, but he said the results were marred after a double fatality in Bangalow on January 1.
"It's never good to have the one and two fatalities for the state to start the year," Snr Sgt Darnell said.
He said people had been patient on the roads despite an increase in traffic.
"It (driver patience) is evident because the number caught speeding was down," he said.
"And there has been no increase in injury crashes despite an increase in traffic."
Sen Sgt Darnell said police were focusing their attention on high-risk sections of road.
