Drunken driving is not on

THERE has been a slew of young drinkdrivers fronting our courts recently with blood-alcohol readings to make your mind boggle.

The latest, on Page 3 of today’s paper, is a learner driver who was found three times over the limit with a carton of rum beside him when he reversed into a police car at a service station.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the 25-yearold was driving an unregistered and uninsured car unaccompanied on a learner’s permit.

At 25, he cannot use youth as an excuse for his behaviour.

Anyone eligible to drive a car is old enough to know right from wrong, and it’s a concerning trend that highlights an even bigger issue: the drink-driving message is simply not getting through to our youth.

One of the problems is a feeling of being invincible and that bad things will not happen to them.

Any police or ambulance officer who has pulled the limp body of a teenager from the wreckage of a car or watched parents mourn the loss of their child due to drink-driving would tell a different story.

Interestingly, the COVID pandemic has revealed a similar problem with youths and an inability to consider the welfare of others.

The two teenagers who travelled by train from Sydney to Noosa and visited various locations would unlikely have been thinking they were putting others’ lives at risk with their brazen behaviour. It probably didn’t even enter their heads.

This isn't about youth-bashing, because there are plenty out there striving and achieving – it’s about trying to find a way to get the message across.

In the end, there’s no easy solution. Harsher penalties could form part of a multi-pronged approach but it’s going to need everyone from every department to have an input if any inroads are going to be made.

The fact is drink-driving kills, families are being ruined and more needs to be done.