‘Too many Aussies driving high’: Cops’ fail on drug testing targets
Police have failed to meet drug-driving testing targets six years in a row as the number of deaths attributed to the offence soar. Now, the peak roads authority and a mother whose three children were killed by a drug-driver have called for action
NSW
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NSW Police has failed to meet mandated drug-driving testing targets six years in a row, as the number of fatalities attributed to drivers being under the influence of illegal substances has surged, according to exclusive data compiled by the NRMA.
Research by the road safety organisation found that NSW Police conducted 160,000 tests in 2023 – well short of its target of 200,000 – while related deaths to drug driving rose to 79, up from 55 the year prior.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said police needed to do more drug-driving tests.
“It is extremely alarming that one in 10 drivers pulled over for a random drug test on the side of the road tested positive at the same time that we are seeing a huge spike in deaths – jumping 44 per cent in one year,” he said.
“Too many Australians are driving high and it’s clear we need to ramp up enforcement and to boost education campaigns around ending this dangerous behaviour.”
The NRMA’s Driving High report, released today, has called on the NSW government to increase roadside drug testing to meet the target of 200,000 tests per year, a goal that was set in 2018.
“To our knowledge, NSW has set mobile drug-testing targets since 2015, the NSW government committed to tripling the number of roadside drug tests to 97,000 by 2017, (and) this was achieved with over 110,000 tests conducted,” Mr Khoury said.
In 2018, the state government announced plans to double the number of roadside drug tests from 100,000 annually to 200,000 by 2020.
In 2019, 166,351 tests were conducted.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said more than 190,000 tests had been conducted this calendar year and that the force was on target to meet its goal.
“(We) are on track to exceed 200,000 by the end of this year,” she said.
Mr Khoury said: “Random drug testing sends the message that if you take the risk you will get caught and, as we head into the Christmas party season, this serves as an important reminder ... we have always maintained that visibility is a proven method of changing bad driver behaviour.”
Drug driving is now the second-leading cause of fatalities in NSW, surpassing fatigue, drink driving and not wearing seatbelts.
Sydney mum Leila Abdallah, whose three children were killed by a drunk and drugged driver in 2020, says police should be testing more people for illicit substances on our roads to save innocent lives.
Mrs Abdallah’s children Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 8, along with their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, died when they were hit by a car while walking on a footpath at Oatlands in 2020.
Mrs Abdallah has now called on police to ramp up drug testing on NSW roads.
“When you lose somebody you love, it’s something you carry for the rest of your life,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “I think the police should be testing more, it’s worth investing in this to save lives.
“One choice can destroy families and can change people.”
Mrs Abdallah said people also needed to call out drivers who decided to get behind the wheel while intoxicated.
“We need to raise awareness about drinking and taking drugs and driving, it’s so important,” she said.
The driver who killed the children, Samuel Davidson, had been drinking and had also taken cocaine and MDMA on the day of the crash, a court heard.
In a letter, Davidson – who was jailed for 20 years – said he wished he had been sober and had never left the house where he had been bingeing.
He also said he would never consume alcohol or drugs again. “I am so sorry for all of this,” he wrote.
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