A king-size enforcement effort by Victoria Police over the King’s Birthday long weekend has resulted in a staggering number of traffic offences detected.
Operation Regal saw officers highly visible and targeting high-risk driving behaviour across the state’s roads, in an effort to reduce road trauma.
A total of 7,221 traffic offences were detected over the four-day enforcement period – a 20% increase on the same period last year.
Victoria Police says its commitment to road policing across the entire workforce was key to the operation’s success – with state, local and regional highway patrols joined by specialist road policing units, general duties police and the Public Order Response Team to proactively patrol the state’s roads.
Motorists were warned prior to the weekend to expect widespread alcohol and drug testing – with police delivering 115,993 preliminary breath tests and 2,778 roadside drug tests over the four days.
“Our members made a huge commitment to Operation Regal, and were particularly focused on roadside alcohol and drug testing and proactive patrols targeting speed, distraction and unauthorised driving,” said Road Policing Assistant Commissioner, Mick Hermans.
“The reality is, we will only issue infringements when there is blatant non-compliance with the road rules.”
Police caught 249 drink drivers – a 21% increase on the same enforcement period last year, and a strike rate of one in every 465 tested caught over the limit.
A further 144 drug driving offences were also detected.
Police issued 3,311 speeding infringements – a 25% increase on the same time last year – with three quarters of all speeding offences issued to those caught travelling between 10km/h and 25km/h over the speed limit.
There was also a noticeable increase in mobile phone and device offences, with 292 infringements issued, up from 151 detected during Operation Regal last year.
“The fact we detected so many offences this weekend just highlights that so many motorists are knowingly breaking the rules – and we cannot accept this,” said Asst Commissioner Hermans.
“We saw significant uplift in infringements issued for speeding, impairment and distraction, and we know these behaviours are all leading contributing factors in fatal and serious injury collisions on our roads.
“We will continue to enforce against those who engage in any risk-taking driving behaviour, and we make no apologies for this.”
The total 7,221 traffic offences detected during Operation Regal included:
- 3,311 speeding offences
- 491 disobey signs/signals
- 390 disqualified/suspended/unlicenced drivers
- 292 mobile phone offences
- 249 drink driving offences from 115,993 preliminary breath tests
- 144 drug driving offences from 2,778 roadside drug tests
- 105 vehicle impounds
- 87 seatbelt offences
- 511 unregistered vehicles
There were two fatal collisions over the weekend, including a 30-year-old female passenger in a collision at Stanhope and a 72-year-old male motorcyclist in a collision at Wangaratta South – both on Saturday 6 June.
A 17-year-old male motorcyclist was also killed in an off-road collision at Jeparit on Sunday afternoon.
There have now been 111 lives lost on Victorian roads in 2026 – down from 135 at the same time last year.
With wet weather and poor visibility increasing as winter sets in across Victoria, police are urging motorists to take extra care on the roads and to continue to be on the lookout for vulnerable road users – particularly pedestrians and motorcyclists.
Police will remain highly visible on the roads across the state, with targeted operations to take place over the coming weeks focusing on vulnerable road user safety.
Operation Regal ran from 12:01am on Friday 5 June until 11:59pm on Monday 8 June.
