LOCAL police have praised motorist behaviour across the long weekend, despite two notable instances of high-range drink driving across the region.

After SA Police launched a high-profile anti-speeding campaign ahead of the weekend, patrols were out in force across the Barossa Local Service Area (LSA) monitoring traffic.

A high-number of cars travelled along local roads across the weekend as holidaymakers travelled to destinations inside the region and beyond.

Barossa LSA officer in charge Chief Inspector Shane Addison said the majority of road users were responsible across the weekend, with no serious accidents recorded on local roads.

“I’m very pleased we managed to escape the long weekend without any significant road collisions and any deaths,” he said.

“There is always positives to come out of that environment. A large number of members of the public are driving to the conditions and are doing the right thing.

“It’s those few that place everyone at risk and they are the ones that really need to have a look at themselves and think about what they’re doing.”

Despite the good behaviour from the majority, Barossa LSA recorded 77 instances of police handing out fines or expiations to motorists.

This included a 23-year-old man at Evanston Park involved in a collision who later returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.174 – more than three times the legal limit.

He was reported for drink driving, charged with driving without due care and had his licence instantly suspended for 12 months.

No one was seriously injured in the collision.

Another incident was a man in Two Wells being caught driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.144, resulting in the man instantly losing his licence.

Chief Inspector Addison said it was the minority of drivers acting recklessly which put the community in danger.

“It continues to concern us that we still have people who are exceeding the speed limits, still have people who are distracted and clearly we have people out there drinking and driving,” he said.

“Both of these incidents are particularly concerning, especially when we have a vehicle collision which is just evidence of the fact people’s driving behaviour is affected and they place their lives, and the lives of every other road user, in danger.

“The campaign from this weekend was aimed at people who think they have superior driving behaviour and don’t think the limits apply to them.

“The campaign is specifically directed at saying ‘your behaviour places everyone else at risk’ because people are expected you to be travelling at the speed limit, obeying the road rules and paying attention to what you’re doing.”

Police will analyse traffic data from across the long weekend and use it to inform its traffic enforcement across the Christmas and New Year holiday period.