High-speed chases, 'reckless' speeding, and drunk drivers keep cops busy

Highway officers across the Oxley and New England police districts clocked 146 speeding drivers, 10 people drunk behind the wheel, and 20 with drugs in their system.

"It's just frustrating," Peel Highway Patrol manager Inspector Kelly Wixx told the Leader.

"People continue to be reckless and fail to understand every decision they make behind the wheel, to speed, increases their risk or the risk of somebody else having a serious injury.

"Or, potentially a fatality behind the wheel of a car."

Drivers and passengers on roads throughout the Oxley and New England areas managed to escape the double demerit Anzac Day operation fatality free.

Not having to attend a road death was "quite refreshing" for first responders Inspector Wixx said, with the road toll currently standing at 14 after four months of 2024.

But, highway patrol officers attended eight serious crashes, may of which could have "quite easily" amounted to a tragic fatality, Inspector Wixx said.

At about 5:50am on Saturday April 27, a B-double truck veered off the road on the Oxley Highway, Goolhi, near Gunnedah, before crashing into several trees.

The vehicle burst into flames and destroyed two trailers as the driver managed to escape.

The fire spread to surrounding bush land and crews from Coonabarabran Fire Brigade attended the scene.

The driver was taken to Tamworth hospital and admitted to not wearing a seat belt.

A small child was also travelling in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

During the state-wide double demerit operation, which kicked off on April 24 and wrapped up on April 28, more than 2500 drivers were subject to roadside breath testing.

Six people were caught not wearing seat belts and two were detected using mobile phones.

A number of pursuits were also sparked in Tamworth, Gunnedah and Armidale, which reached speeds of up to 170 kilometres.

Inspector Wixx said police would continue to take pursuits extremely seriously and commit to tracking down the drivers behind the wheel of high speed chases.

"We know that they're taking such risks, that they don't care about community safety, they don't care about other road users," she said.

"We are determining the drivers of these pursuits and we are taking action ... and we're not going to stop."