Victorian Police target boat ramp users
Operation Ramp Stop on the Vic coast results in 24 offences for trailers, boats and launchingVictorian Water Police conducted Operation Ramp Stop along Victoria’s western coastline over the long weekend with, it says, pleasing results.
Operation Ramp Stop involved the checking of vehicles before their operators turned their attention to boating later in the day.
Water Police attended almost all ramps from Nelson to Warrnambool throughout the weekend. This is not the first time Vic Police have targeted boat ramp users as we reported on here in this story clarifying if you can be pinged for not wearing a lifejacket while launching at the ramp.
Acting Sergeant Ben Penrose said the aim of the operation was to make sure everyone took safety seriously both on the road and water.
"Local Police, Marine Safety Victoria, VicRoads and the Sheriff’s Office assisted us, while an Automatic Number Plate Recognition vehicle was also in attendance," A/Sgt Penrose said.
The operation resulted in:
953 vehicles checked with six defect notices and 11 infringements issued to drivers.
Issues identified included unrestrained vessels on trailers, exceeding load and towing limits of vehicles and a lack of maintenance on trailers, particularly with respect to the roadworthiness of tyres.
Of the 148 vessels checked there were 13 offences identified.
Offences detected included failing to wear personal flotation devices, safety equipment not being present or not being maintained in a useable condition.
"The same operation was run over a single day last year and checked the same number of vessels, but identified 37 offences," A/Sgt Penrose said.
"This year demonstrated a significant improvement in boaters checking and ensuring they comply with marine legislation.
"It was pleasing to see though that speeding in restricted waters had reduced drastically from 11 last year to only one this year.”
However, whilst water police members travelled between locations they detected a further 13 offences by road users, of which all have been issued with infringement notices.
Representatives from the Sheriff's office also identified 30 people with a combined total of 419 warrants, to a value of approximately $166,000.
Photo credit: Damian White, The Standard.
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