Here is a summary of the latest police news on the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island.

Police issue warning over COVID-19 online scams 

Police have warned the public of the ongoing threat posed by online scams, as scammers are continuing to exploit the fear of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Common scams that are circulating relate to falsely advertising coronavirus-related remedies and setting up fake fundraising initiatives.

Members of the public need to be mindful that many of the fraudulent advert and product links are integrated into popular social media platforms.

Scammers have also used emails claiming to be from legitimate health or fundraising organisations. Clicking on the link or an attachment may lead to scammers obtaining personal details or infecting your device with malicious software.

Take the time to think before clicking on links contained within emails or social media platforms. To report a cybersecurity issue visit the reporting website. 

Traffic report

About 10.30am on Friday 6 March, police stopped a vehicle that was driving the wrong way down Gawler Street at Mount Barker. The driver, a 39-year-old man from Milang returned a positive breath analysis of 0.253, more than five times the legal limit.  Enquiries revealed he was disqualified from driving. 

He was arrested and charged with drink driving and other driving offences. He was refused bail and will appear in Mount Barker Magistrates Court on Tuesday 10 March.  He also had his vehicle impounded for 28 days and issued a further six-month immediate loss of licence.

Around the same time another patrol stopped a 75-year-old woman driving on Beach Road, Goolwa.  She submitted to a breath test and returned a positive result of 0.113. 

The woman from Goolwa Beach was reported for drink driving, she was issued with an immediate loss of licence and her vehicle was impounded. She will be summonsed to attend court at a later date.

New road safety initiative announced

South Australia Police have today launched a new road safety initiative after a road fatality and two separate traffic operations.

Operation High Impact F5 Regional was the first of the two enforcement activities, running from Thursday 6 February until Saturday 7 March. High Impact F5 resulted in 2,499 drivers detected for exceeding the speed limit.

Additionally, 16,982 drivers were screened for alcohol with 108 returning a positive result, and 1,541 drivers were screened for a prescribed drug (methylamphetamine, THC and Ecstasy) with 232 returning a positive result.

A total of 177 drivers were detected committing a seatbelt offence and 72 drivers were detected committing a distraction-based offence, including mobile phone use.

As High Impact F5 started to wind-up, Operation Safe Long Weekend Adelaide Cup began at 12.01am on Friday 6 March and ended at 11.59pm on Monday 9 March.

With a focus on reducing death and serious injuries, police officers detected 805 drivers for speeding offences during the statewide operation.

Safe Long Weekend ended with 4,976 alcotests and 111 detections, 635 drug tests and 63 detections, along with traffic infringement notices issued for 36 mobile phone offences and 44 seatbelt offences.

After the conclusion of these traffic operations, a 47-year-old woman died following a head-on crash with a car driven by a 44-year-old man at Kersbrook last week.

On the back of these traffic operation results and another life lost, South Australia Police (SAPOL) has published a new digital media road safety message known as ‘One Tonne Bullet’.

The message highlights that all motor vehicles – but cars in particular - driven at speed is like firing a bullet indiscriminately down a street. Cars are not intended to be weapons but some people drive them like they are.

The key focus of the SAPOL message is that when a person gets in to drive a car, or to operate any other vehicle, they need to understand and appreciate that driving on our roads is a privilege – it is not a right.

With that privilege comes unequivocal responsibility and accountability to ensure that all road users, including pedestrians, are treated with respect.

Last year, 114 people lost their lives on South Australian roads.

If 114 people were to be randomly shot and killed it would likely be ongoing front-page news for many days, and yet there seems to be a lack of community concern for the amount of people dying on the roads.

“In current times, it appears that there is a degree of complacency by some in our community, particularly when it comes to speeding in motor vehicles,” said Superintendent Bob Gray, Officer in Charge of the Traffic Services Branch.

“Those people have become somewhat immune to hearing the road safety message or hearing about the lives lost on our roads, unless it directly impacts upon them personally.

“SAPOL make no apology for the confrontational nature of this very strong message. If this can create robust conversation and reinforce the road safety message in our community, then it has achieved the desired result.”

Minister for Police Corey Wingard reiterated the importance of road safety.

“We live in such an incredible state, and we should all be working together as South Australians to make our roads as safe as possible,” he said.

“Although confrontational, this new initiative from SAPOL will hopefully contribute to safer drivers, safer pedestrians and safer roads.”

To view the one tonne bullet message go to Youtube.