Police are predicting a busy long weekend on Southern NSW roads with the NRL grand-final, the official end of the ski season and the Deniliquin Ute Muster bound to create high volumes of traffic.

All available Highway Patrol officers and vehicles will be on deck during the three-day holiday, targeting speeding, seat belt offences, alcohol and fatigue. Marked and unmarked police cars will patrol the Barton, Federal and Hume Highways together with rural roads. Local police will conduct random breath testing both in and outside of towns and villages.

Operation Slow Down – the state’s October long weekend road safety campaign – kicked off at midnight yesterday and will conclude at midnight on Monday.

Double demerit points will apply for all speeding and seat belt offences during this time.

For the first time in local memory, the state’s roads remained fatality free over the Easter long weekend. NSW is on course to record the lowest annual road toll since World War II. Police are urging motorists to drive to the conditions and continue to heed the road safety message for the remainder of the year.

Driver Reviver sites will operate across the state and motorists are urged to stop, revive and survive.