Page 1369 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 13 May 2014
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an enviable road system. Our road network is a high quality one and it is well maintained. Travel on our roads is largely efficient and we record consistently low rates of road deaths compared with other Australian jurisdictions.
However, as anyone who has had a friend or relative killed or injured in a road accident would attest, any death or serious injury on our roads is one too many. The tragedy individually and for families and friends is immeasurable. The enduring impact on family and friends of the senseless and needless loss of life or of life-changing injury of a loved one at the hands of a drink-driver can only be imagined. In addition to the human and personal cost, the economic cost to the community is also significant.
The government, through the ACT road safety strategy, is committed to a vision zero policy, which ultimately aims for no-one being killed or seriously injured within our road transport system.
If such a vision is to be realised, it is necessary to address the risks on our roads presented by drink and drug driving. Despite extensive community education efforts highlighting the risks posed by this dangerous behaviour, drink and drug driving continues to be an issue for our community as well as in other parts of Australia. Research continually shows that key driving performance skills, such as concentration, attention and reaction time, are adversely impaired by drug and alcohol use.
Advice from ACT Policing is that impaired driving, generally involving alcohol but sometimes in combination with illicit drugs, was a contributing factor in almost 40 per cent of fatal crashes in the last four years. The risks posed by drug and drink-driving are clear, and for this reason I have repeatedly given directions to the Chief Police Officer, through the annual purchase agreement with ACT Policing, to target this antisocial activity. As a result, ACT Policing have been extremely proactive in undertaking roadside drug and alcohol tests. There were 134,684 roadside drink-driving tests performed last year, almost 40,000 more than were conducted in 2012. In addition ACT Policing conducted just over 2,000 roadside random drug tests.
It is pleasing that, despite the significant increase in roadside breath tests conducted, the number of people detected driving while under the influence of alcohol fell. Last year 1,355 drivers were caught driving after consuming an excess amount of alcohol, and this number has been steadily falling in recent years. In addition over 200 drivers were caught drug driving last year.
While it is pleasing that the number of drivers undertaking this high-risk behaviour is falling, the number does remain unacceptably high. An impaired driver represents a threat to themselves, their passengers and other road users. Every drink or drug driver we take off the road potentially saves another person’s life.
For that reason the government has been focused on reducing drug and drink-driving. Some of the initiatives introduced in recent years include: applying a zero alcohol concentration to learner and provisional drivers, public vehicle and heavy vehicle drivers; restricting access to work licences for drink and drug drivers to first and low-range offenders only; immediate licence suspension where a driver records a blood
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