Operation WestForce: Extra officers deployed to police roads in Tamworth and across the North West

Several officers from Sydney and across NSW are patrolling Tamworth and the New England North West as part of Operation WestForce – a traffic operation to drive down the rising road toll.

On Thursday, officers targeted heavy vehicles in a roads blitz on the New England and Oxley Highways and conducted 21 downloads of electronic computer modules (ECM) or a truck’s speed monitor.

Oxley Acting Sergeant Darren Traill said 32 drivers were also drug and breath tested.

“Nine heavy vehicles were defected and seven were found to have non-compliant ECMs meaning the speed limiters were faulty,” he told The Leader.

“Police issued eight traffic infringement notices for defects and work diary issues and two drivers returned positive roadside drug samples.”

A 41-year-old man was stopped on the Oxley Highway in Tamworth on Thursday for having a defective back trailer light.

He returned a positive roadside sample to methamphetamine and cannabis and was grounded immediately.

Police also downloaded the speed limiter data and found the truck was capable of travelling at 121.4km per hour – more than 20km more than the legal limit.

Acting Sergeant Traill said the driver was issued with tickets for having an expired registration label and a non-compliant speed limiter.

“Operation WestForce is a police operation aimed at trying to reduce the road toll in the North and Western areas of NSW,” he said.

“One life lost is one too many and police will continue to patrol the roads in an effort to ensure motorists do the right thing.

“Police are targeting speeding, seatbelts, mobile phone offences and other serious causal factors that contribute to serious injury or fatal crashes.”