Drink drivers put on notice as police Christmas blitz begins

• Queensland Police kick off major Christmas road safety operation this weekend
• Police will be highly visible across Queensland’s busiest highways and road networks
• Strong focus on drink and drug driving over festive period. 

A major state-wide police blitz targeting drink drivers over the festive season kicks off this weekend.

Annual Christmas road safety campaign, Operation Victor Mistletoe, was launched today with police rolling out traffic enforcement operations focusing on drink and drug driving during the party season.

Extra police will be out in force across Queensland’s highways and road networks in an effort to make sure everyone makes it home safe over the holidays.

Tragically, 251 people have lost their lives on Queensland roads this year.

This year’s concentrated operations were brought forward a week to particularly target end-of-year celebrations in the lead-up to Christmas.

Police are urging party-goers planning on drinking to also plan their trip home accordingly without putting themselves and others in danger. 

More than 20 per cent of road fatalities in Queensland are linked to drink driving.

The Queensland Police Service will be conducting Operation Victor Mistletoe over the festive holiday period until January 25, 2024, involving a range of strategies to target motorists speeding, drink and drug driving, driving distracted or not wearing a seatbelt.

Quotes attributable to Police Minister Mark Ryan:

“December is typically filled with special events where family, colleagues or friends celebrate together.

“We urge all road users heading out to celebrations or travelling on road trips to plan ahead and don’t take risks.

“The message is simple: if you are planning on drinking – do not plan to drive.

“One life lost on our roads is one too many and we do not want to see any further tragedies, particularly at Christmas. 

“Queenslanders can expect to see more police out and about on our roads conducting random breath tests and targeting drivers doing the wrong thing.”

Quotes attributable to Acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Stream:

“Too many lives have been lost on our roads as a direct result of someone selfishly making the wrong decision to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“We want every single road user including car drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooter riders, motorcyclists and truck drivers to take a moment to ensure they are all making safe decisions this festive period.

“We have rolling police operations planned across the road networks where officers will be conducting random breath tests, drug tests, speed detection and general road enforcement.” 

“Expect to see us anywhere, anytime.”   

Further information:

Between November 17 and November 29, police have:

• Conducted 29,862 random breath tests and identified 431 drink drivers.
• Conducted 1,853 drug tests and identified 359 drug drivers.

Media contacts   

Minister Ryan’s Office: Ph: (07) 3035 8300 

Police Media: Ph: (07) 3015 2444