Man blows 0.227, driver clocked at 156km/h during long weekend police blitz on Riverina roads

Operation Labour Day, the NSW Police Force's statewide four-day road blitz, began at midnight on Thursday and concluded at midnight on Monday, with double demerits in place.

During the operation, officers attached to the Riverina Police District conducted 1395 random breath tests and 122 roadside drug tests locally.

As a result of those tests, two drink-driving offences were detected and 12 positive drug tests were returned.

Across the district, officers issued a total of 237 infringement notices - 99 of which were for speed offences, five were for mobile phone offences and four for seatbelt offences.

Among those caught driving under the influence was a 24-year-old man, who police said returned a high-range reading.

Police said, about 8.10pm on Friday, officers from the Riverina Highway Patrol stopped a utility driven by the man after he was seen leaving a licensed premises in Lockhart.

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The driver returned a positive breath test and was taken to the police station for a breath analysis, which returned a reading of 0.227.

The man was charged with driving with a high-range prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA).

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old man had his licence suspended after he was caught travelling at 156km/h in a 100km/h zone shortly after 3pm on Friday. He was also slapped with an infringement notice.

A 29-year-old man had his licence suspended after he was caught allegedly driving while drunk.

Officers stopped the man's blue BMW at 6.44am on Saturday for random testing and he allegedly returned a positive reading of 0.076.

The man was given a fine for low-range PCA and issued an immediate licence suspension.

Wagga Highway Patrol officers also detected and stopped a defective Nissan Navara utility as it travelled along Hammond Avenue. The vehicle was stopped about 4.40pm on Friday and the driver allegedly returned a positive random test.

The driver was issued several infringements relating to vehicle standards and was taken for a secondary test, which returned a positive result and is pending further analysis.

About 9.50pm on Saturday, police stopped a Toyota Corolla on Brungle Road at Tarrabandra for random testing.

The driver, who police said had never held a driver's licence, allegedly had an outstanding conviction warrant and returned a positive drug test. They were charged and subsequently refused bail.

Across the state, a total of 11,080 fines were issued during the operation, with 3823 for speeding and a further 287 for mobile phone usage.

Another 248 people were charged for drink-driving offences, and 444 returned positive results after roadside drug tests.

NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol commander Brett McFadden said although the long weekend operation was over, families were continuing to travel around the state throughout the school holiday period and he urged people to plan their trips.

"Sadly, we have lost three lives during this traffic operation - three too many," Assistant Commissioner McFadden said.

"Despite the operation concluding, I'm still urging drivers to be careful on our roads and follow the rules."

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