Hunter Highway Patrol cluster supervisor Senior Sergeant Tony Grace said on Monday afternoon he was pleased with Maitland’s results of one in 800 positive breath tests, which was better than the ongoing statewide average of one in 250.

“While we don’t want anyone to be drink driving, it’s better than what it could be,” he said.

None of the positive readings were high range.

In other offences, 120 speeding tickets were issued across Maitland and 187 other infringements were also recorded by Monday afternoon. 

Of the 187 other infringements, 20 were for mobile phone offences.

More police including highway patrol and general duties officers were out on the road on the weekend as part of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command’s Operation Tortoise.

Sergeant Grace was happy with how Maitland fared in the operation, particularly because there were also no major crashes in the area across the weekend.

“The general public has behaved,” he said.

But senior police expressed disappointment with the behavior of motorists across the state during the blitz. In the first three days of the operation 619 people across NSW were issued infringements for not using seatbelts, restraints or helmets properly – 70 more than the same point last year.

Traffic & Highway Patrol commander Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said while most drivers obeyed the road rules, there were still too many who chose to put lives at risk.

“Despite an increased police presence on the roads and double-demerit enforcement, too many people still made poor decisions,” he said.

“The fact that 7750 drivers chose to speed and nearly 300 drivers were caught drink-driving, shows that there are still too many putting themselves and others at risk.”