A TEENAGE motorbike rider has lost his learner's licence after he was clocked tearing along at 163 kilometres per hour in Newcastle.
The 19-year-old man was handed one of 173 speeding tickets that were dished out across the Hunter during a long weekend police operation.
Officers have been out in force during the double demerit period working to keep people safe as they travelled for school holidays and Labour Day.
The four-day police operation that launched on Friday morning has been targeting dangerous, distracted, impaired and fatigued driving in an effort to prevent serious crashes and fatalities.
By midnight on Sunday, with 24 hours of the operation remaining, highway patrol officers from across the Newcastle Hunter sector and police from local districts had carried out 3800 random breath tests and 510 for drugs.
Eight people were charged with drink driving or driving under the influence, while another 37 were detected driving with prohibited drugs in their system.
Infringements were handed to one person for a mobile phone offence and three for seatbelt or helmet offences.
Police issued 173 speeding tickets and 287 fines for other traffic offences.
Newcastle Hunter highway patrol Chief Inspector Thomas Barnes said police had been "generally encouraged" by the behaviour of drivers on the road, but the speeding detections had been concerning.
"There unfortunately remains a small number who, despite the threat of double demerit points, seem incapable of prioritising either their safety or that of those around them, with numerous infringements for exceeding the speed limit still being issued," he said on Saturday.
Newcastle highway patrol officers were conducting speed enforcement on the Inner City Bypass at Shortland at about 1.30pm on Friday, October 4, when they detected a speeding motorbike rider.
Police said the 19-year-old Teralba man was clocked travelling at 163 kilometres per hour in a signposted 90 zone.
Police pulled him over and discovered he was the holder of a learner licence.
He was issued a penalty notice for being a learner exceeding the speed limit by more than 45 kilometres per hour and was issued a notice of suspension for six months.
One person in the Hunter area tragically lost their life in a horror crash on the first day of the long weekend operation.
Emergency services were called to Bunnan Road at Owens Gap, west of Scone, just before 4pm on Friday after reports a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Nissan Navara ute had collided.
The passenger in the front of the sedan, a 76-year-old woman, died at the scene. The other two women in the car, the 53-year-old driver and a 39-year-old passenger, were both airlifted to John Hunter Hospital.
The 27-year-old man driving the ute and his passenger, a 24-year-old woman, were also taken to John Hunter Hospital.
Both drivers underwent mandatory testing, while specialist Crash Investigation Unit police combed the scene for clues about how the crash unfolded.
Investigations continue.
Operation Labour Day and the double demerit period end at midnight on Monday, but drivers have been urged to continue making safe decisions as roads remain busy with school holiday traffic.
