The "very basic" road messages from police are still not getting through to drivers, say police.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On Friday and Saturday police in the western region conducted Operation Chrome, a two-day road safety campaign.
Western Region commander Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie said there were almost 1000 additional breath tests conducted during the two days and eight people were found to be drink driving.
"It's still an unacceptable level of people totally disregarding a very basic requirement of road safety and that is not being intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle," he said.
New England had the worst performance with three people caught drink driving, followed by two in Chifley.
Drink drivers were also detected in the Central North Police District and the Central West.
"Heed those warnings and continue to look after yourself and other road users."
- Geoff McKechnie
Eighteen people across the region were arrested, with a total of 35 offences.
Seven people were also banned from driving for 24 hours after random drug tests returned a positive indication for prohibited drugs.
An additional 50 police were deployed for the operation and Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said Operation Chrome would continue to be run at different times of the year.
With the June long weekend just around the corner he urged people to consider the implication of their actions.
Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said the police would continue to target "the offences that cause the most grief": drink driving, drug driving, speeding and wearing seat belts.
It's just something we see on a very regular basis that we will be working as hard as ever to reduce.
- Geoff McKechnie
"So often the scenario is around drink driving at a local licensed premise in a small or isolated location and then vehicles leaving the road, colliding with a tree and rolling and killing or severely injuring the driver and/or passengers," he said.
"It's just something we see on a very regular basis that we will be working as hard as ever to reduce."
In the year to date, there have been 152 fatalities on NSW roads. It's 14 more than the same time period in 2018.
Assistant Commissioner McKechnie had a very simple message for the community.
"Please take notice of what we're saying. Heed those messages and get those very basic things right.
"Don't put yourselves into a position where you have to drink and drive.
"Don't put yourself into a position where you're running late, you're tired, all of those safety message that we keep talking about," he said.
"Heed those warnings and continue to look after yourself and other road users."
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...