HIGH AND MIGHTY STUPID
GEELONG SHOCK: More drivers busted for drugs than drinking on our roads
DRUG-DRIVING has overtaken drink-driving as one of the leading causes of deaths on Victorian roads — and in Geelong this year there were more drug-affected drivers than drink-drivers.
Victoria Police data shows the number of motorists killed with stimulants drugs, like ice, in their system rose statewide from 5 per cent in 2010 to 19 per cent in 2018.
And new statistics prepared exclusively for the Geelong Advertiser show drug-driving is becoming increasingly prevalent on Geelong roads.
DRIVERS in the Geelong region are following the treacherous path of using drugs before getting behind the wheel.
Drug-driving has overtaken drink-driving as one of the leading causes of deaths on Victorian roads — and in Geelong this year there were more drugaffected drivers than drinkdrivers.
Victoria Police data shows the number of motorists killed with stimulants drugs, like ice, in their system rose statewide from 5 per cent in 2010 to 19 per cent in 2018.
And new statistics prepared exclusively for the Geelong Advertiser show drug-driving is becoming increasingly prevalent on Geelong roads.
The Addy can reveal police detected 97 drug-drivers and 84 drink-drivers between January and June.
The number of drug-drivers detected rose to a four-year high of 216 last year, while drink-driving offences dropped for the fifth consecutive year.
Geelong Highway Patrol Acting Senior Sergeant Rod Stormonth said drug-drivers were risking their own lives and the lives of others.
The number of drivers caught with illicit drugs in their system on Geelong roads rose 50 per cent in 12 months during 2014-15, albeit as police rolled out more testing sites.
The figure dipped in 2016 and 2017 before rising again last year.
Meanwhile, those caught drink-driving has dropped every year since 2014 — nearly halving from a high of 232 to just 84 positive tests last year.
Sen-Sgt Stormonth said that while alcohol was still a major cause of trauma accidents, strong public warning campaigns had paid dividends with driver behaviour.
Sen-Sgt Stormonth said the decline in drink-driving was welcome but now drug-affected drivers were a “greater concern across the board”.
News Corp reported in September that one in 18 drivers tested for drugs returned a positive finding compared with one in 400 for alcohol.
But Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has expressed concerns about the “very convoluted, expensive” drug-testing process.
“We are keen to do more on-the-spot infringements and then deal with the testing when they are challenged, much as we do with the alcohol-screening environment,” he told a parliamentary inquiry.
This week Victoria Police expanded its drug testing capabilities through a new trial allowing officers from oneperson stations to administer drug tests. That could be expanded to the Geelong region.
In 2018, penalties for drivers detected with an illicit drug in their system were doubled and they now face mandatory licence suspension of six months with a 12-month suspension for repeat offenders.