Good behaviour over long weekend praised by cops

West Pilbara police have reported overwhelmingly good behaviour on the roads across the district over the WA Day long weekend.

Police from Hedland, Karratha and Newman were out in force for a joint traffic operation from June 2-6, targeting a number of offences to prevent risky behaviour on the roads.

From 230 vehicles stopped in Hedland over the WA Day long weekend, only three drivers were charged with drink-driving and no drivers tested positive to illicit substances in roadside tests.

There was 21 people issued with speeding infringements, including two drivers who clocked over 140km/ph in a 110 zone.

Senior Sergeant Dean Snashall said while it was pleasing to see the majority of drivers doing the right thing, he reminded the public that risky behaviour on local roads would not be tolerated.

“Overall I’m pretty happy with the results from a Pilbara perspective- there were no fatalities, no serious crashes, everyone got home safely,” he said.

“We had two people who...were going just over 140km per hour in 110km/ph zone which was a bit concerning but the majority of speeding infringements were around the 120km/ph mark.

“The other issue we picked up on was that there’s some confusion out there about the speed limit applying to people towing trailers.

“As soon as you put anything on that tow-ball you are restricted to 100km per hour; that’s state-wide and pretty much standard across Australia, no matter what the weight or size of your trailer.”

Sen. Sgt Snashall said South Hedland didn’t experienced a spike in burglaries, damages or stealings across the long weekend, which was also a pleasing result.

There were a handful of traffic incidents in Roebourne and Exmouth, a pub fight in Tom Price and several attempted burglaries in Onslow which local police are still investigating.