Drug-drive police alarm
Twice that of drunks at wheel
DRUG-affected drivers in Tasmania outnumber drinkdrivers by almost two to one, new figures show.
Between January and November 30 last year, police nabbed 1379 drinkdriving offenders in the state.
The drug-driving offences recorded in the same period were about double that, totalling 2673.
In total, 123,196 drinkdriving tests were conducted, with offenders comprising just 1.1 per cent of those tested, while a massive 43 per cent of the 6222 drug-driving oral fluid tests conducted were positive.
Data does not yet reveal the demographics of drivers or substances used.
The figures have led to calls for a visible police crackdown and more awareness campaigns.
Assistant Commissioner Jonathon Higgins said the Road Safety Strategy targeted high-risk driving behaviours 1
including drug- and drink-driving – one of the “fatal five” contributors to deadly crashes.
“This approach means we deploy our resources at the locations and times when we know these high-risk driving behaviours are more likely to occur,” he said. “By being highly mobile out on the roads, we could be anywhere at any time testing drivers.”
Police suggested suspending large-scale static roadside drink-driving testing for six months during COVID-19 may have affected results, with the introduction of oral fluid testing kits in December 2018 also seeing a large increase in drug-driving offenders being caught.
Post-doctoral alcohol and other drug researcher Thomas Norman said “visible policing” was one effective deterrent but public awareness needed to improve.
He said a primary motivation for drug- and drinkdrivers was believing they were still in control of their
bodies while intoxicated; a secondary motivation was not believing they would be caught.
Dr Norman’s area of research explores “residual risk” from substance use that occurs after acute intoxication begins to subside and can cause fatigue and other physiological impairments.
“The risk for acute intoxication is pretty well established at the moment, but the effects of residual impairment are less known,” Dr Norman said.
“Illicit drugs stay in your system a lot longer than some people imagine. Methamphetamine or MDMA can stay in your system for 30 hours or more – in that respect, just because you are consuming something the night before then wake up the next day, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not going to be impaired.”
Dr Norman said awareness campaigns should reflect the national push from police to catch drug-drivers.