Police Life spends a day travelling the magnificent Great Ocean Road with the Surf Coast Traffic Management Unit.

It is an early summer’s day, and while traffic police in the states north are battling with dusty roads or a long stretch of highway, the beach boys from the Surf Coast Traffic Management Unit (TMU) are winding their way along one of the world’s most iconic stretches of road. With views of the ocean and sandy beaches, it is hard not to think that these must be the luckiest traffic police in the world.

Five members patrol the Great Ocean Road with pride and enthusiasm, ensuring it, and its users, remain as safe as possible. As well as this, they patrol surrounding highways, including the busy Princes and Surf Coast highways. And, they do it well. Over the past two years, with assistance of members from coastal police stations and Colac TMU, the Surf Coast TMU has helped reduce the number of motorcycle crashes along the Great Ocean Road by 40.3 per cent. In addition, the number of fatal collisions, or those resulting in serious injury, for all vehicles, has been cut by 23.9 per cent.

Officer in charge of the Surf Coast TMU, Sergeant Pat Cleary, is immensely proud of the achievement, but acknowledged that the road safety message, particularly during summertime, always needed reinforcement. "It is fantastic for us to work in such a beautiful part of the world, but we have a job to do, and we want to ensure that the 20,000-odd tourists, and locals, who come here daily, can safely enjoy their experience," Sgt Cleary said.

Over the next three months, the population of seaside towns along the Surf Coast, such as Torquay, will increase three-fold. Every year, more than seven million people visit the Great Ocean Road, contributing to it’s, and surrounding roads, heavy traffic.

Senior Constable Andrew Gough has worked at the Surf Coast TMU since its inception in mid-1999, and said while they expected a large volume of road users during summer, it did not take away from his teams stern approach to safety. He said complacency, impatience and inexperience on windy roads were a recipe for disaster.

"It doesn’t matter whether they have driven the road once or a thousand times, sticking to the law is paramount, and we try to enforce that," Sen. Const Gough said.

With all its bends and steep curves, traditionally the Great Ocean Road presented a challenge for police to safely intercept offending drivers. To compensate, the team has come up with a range of creative solutions to change a perception among many motorcyclists, that police do not have the ability to catch dangerous drivers.

When travelling to holiday destinations, do not be surprised to see traffic police sitting under trees, behind bushes, parked on hills overlooking the road, or even sitting in houses above the road pointing radar guns at the traffic below.

In addition to these methods, the team continues to use traditional enforcement methods, including using the Air Wing to hover above the road, using point-to-point technology to catch speeding drivers.

Sgt Cleary said his team had 12 strategically placed observation locations along the Great Ocean Road. When an offence is observed, the information is radioed ahead to police further on, and the offender is intercepted and processed in a nearby safe location.

"One of the biggest hazards along the Great Ocean Road is irresponsible motorcyclist behaviour, in particular those who cross double lines, dangerously overtake, and speed," he said.

In addition to the use of technology, the team also calls on support from local media outlets to spread the word regarding enforcement methods and road safety.

Sgt Cleary said to keep the roads safe police needed to continually "get inside the heads" of motorists that offend. With standard and unconventional traffic policing, drivers know that anywhere, at anytime, the Surf Coast TMU members could be watching.

Timeline

7am: The Surf Coast TMU patrols the highways leading to Geelong, where thousands of commuters make their daily trip to work.

9am: Members complete their paper work, are briefed by Sgt Pat Cleary, and assigned duties for the day.

11.30am: Members drive, usually solo, along roads of concern, in line with the operation at the time. In January, they completed Operation Reef, where 259 motorcyclists were issued with penalty notices for safety related offences. The highest speed detected during the operation was one motorist travelling at 170 kilometres per hour.

12.30pm: TMU members travelling along the Great Ocean Road keep an eye out for people not wearing seatbelts, talking on mobile phones and adverse driver behaviour. Sen Const Andrew Gough said after spending so many years with the TMU, members have an instinctive eye for safety.

2pm: The Surf Coast TMU also patrols back roads around the Surf Coast, including winding roads through the Otways that link the townships of Lorne, Winchelsea, Anglesea and Torquay. Sgt Pat Cleary said members consistently vary the roads they patrol and the cars they use. The marked SMART car is preferred for high visibility, presence, and delivery of the road safety message, while the unmarked car maximises offence detection and covert drink-drive operations.

3pm: Changeover of a shift, and as one member comes in, the other member hands over any details from the days events. Sgt Pat Cleary said members of the TMU do not take leave over Christmas and New Year, as seaside towns are busy, and all hands are required on deck.

5pm: Afternoon shift workers prepare for the booze bus to come down from Melbourne, where they assist graduates from the Academy with breathalysing local and visiting drivers.

6pm: Sen Const Nigel Morrison is preparing for the traffic management for one of the many major events that take place along the coast each year attracting local, national and overseas visitors.

7pm: Members head to an accident on a country road nearby. The Surf Coast TMU is supported, and likewise supports surrounding police with traffic duties when required.

Sarah Campbell Journalist, Police Life