THE region's road safety manager has delivered a sobering thought about the high number of people returning positive drug tests while driving.
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"Granted we do a lot more tests for drug driving but we are average one in five or six (returning a positive result," Senior Sergeant Asenjo said.
"Think about that when you're at the traffic lights doing the school run surrounded by cars."
Senior Sergeant Asenjo said he was concerned about the growing trend.
His comments come after police conducted Operation Regal over the south-west on the weekend.
Senior Sergeant Asenjo said there were 76 infringement notices issued in the district that covers Warrnambool, Moyne and Corangamite shires and 97 offences in the region which includes Glenelg and Southern Grampians shires.
There were five impaired drivers in the region covering Warrnambool and 11 drivers detected driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the Glenelg and Southern Grampians shires.
However, Senior Sergeant Asenjo said motorists driving between 10 and 25 kilometres over the speed limited accounted for the majority of offences.
"We got through the long weekend without a fatal collision, which is good because there is an influx of people travelling on the roads," Senior Sergeant Asenjo said.
"Hopefully people are heeding the message because we've had a shocking six months.
"This has been one of the worst starts to the year in some time but it's not just an issue affecting the south-west, it's affecting the whole state."
Senior Sergeant Asenjo said there were serious ramifications for people caught exceeding the speed limit.
"Macarthur police caught a 23-year-old Koroit woman travelling at 130km/h on the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road," he said.
"This is a typical example of people thinking there's not a lot of cars on the road so there certainly won't be a police car but she got it wrong."
Senior Sergeant Asenjo said the woman had her licence suspended for three months.
He said he could not stress enough how dangerous it was to travel over the speed limit.
"If you're travelling at a high speed and you come off the road there's a good chance you'll die," Senior Sergeant said.
He said there was never a reason to speed.
"If you're travelling 10 to 25 kilometres over the speed limit, you will get there three to five minutes quicker, research has shown," Senior Sergeant Asenjo said.
"Just leave three to five minutes earlier."
Senior Sergeant Asenjo said police continued to target driver distraction, including the use of mobile phones.
"Hook it up to your bluetooth - the techology is there to help you," he said.
However, Senior Sergeant Asenjo said his preference would be that people refrain from using their phone while driving.
"Just pull over if you need to take a call - for the sake of a text or a phone call or a text, it's not worth it," he said.
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