SA police scale back roadside drug-driving tests

POLICE have scaled back drug-driver tests, despite alarming new figures showing a record number of motorists caught high behind the wheel.

Testing on Military Road at Taperoo. Picture Simon Cross

POLICE have scaled back drug-driver tests, despite alarming new figures showing a record number of motorists caught behind the wheel under the influence of illicit substances.

The revelations have prompted calls for police to double the number of roadside tests in an effort to reduce the trauma caused by drug drivers on South Australian roads.

Figures show 5569 drivers returned a positive drug test last financial year – almost as many as the 5817 caught over the 0.05 blood-alcohol limit.

The record number of drug-driver detections came despite police conducting 2174 fewer drug tests — 50,769 — in 2015-16. In contrast, there were 544,161 drink-driving tests — almost 10 times as many.

RAA road safety manager Charles Mountain said he was surprised drug testing — which can detect cannabis, ecstasy and methamphetamine — had been reduced.

“There needs to be greater testing and focus on education,’’ he said.

“Driving while on drugs impacts on driving ability and reaction times and the consequences can be fatal.

“A lot of education about drink-driving dangers has paid dividends over the years but there hasn’t been the same level of information about the impact of drugs on driving.’’

Police figures show that, since 2010-11, drug-driving detections have more than tripled from 1832, while the number of positive alcohol tests has almost halved from 10,072.

Family First MP Robert Brokenshire has called on the Government to spend $3 million to double the number of drug tests over a 12-month period to deter drivers from getting behind the wheel while high.

Roadside drug testing in SA.

He said the cuts to drug testing had happened “when clearly drug driving was becoming the number one risk factor on our roads’’.

“And of course the risk is higher during the festive season and innocent drivers should not be subjected to such a high rate of drugged drivers on our roads,’’ Mr Brokenshire said.

Two days after Christmas 2013, and high on methamphetamine, Samantha Magdaleine Farrer hit and killed cyclist Kathleen Heraghty near Victor Harbor.

Farrier, who left the scene of the accident, stood trial claiming she had crashed into a roadside fruit stall. She was found guilty of an aggravated count of causing death by dangerous driving and jailed for five years.

A month earlier, in November 2013, Kylie Anne Hie crashed her van on the South-Eastern Freeway as her four-year-old daughter sat illegally strapped in the front passenger seat.

Hie, who had methamphetamine in her system, has pleaded guilty to an aggravated count of causing death by dangerous driving and is awaiting sentencing.

The 2015-16 SA Police annual report highlights the massive difference in detection rates between drink and drug-driving.

During Operation Stop Drink Drug Drive, 34,240 drivers were tested for alcohol with 140 caught above the 0.05 limit, compared with 2206 drivers tested for drugs of whom 138 tested positive.

Even more alarming were the detection rates at school zones conducted as part of the operation.

Of the 6125 drivers tested for alcohol, eight were caught over the limit compared with 59 of the 1243 drivers tested for drugs returning a positive result.

Road Safety Minister Peter Malinauskas did not say why police had reduced drug-driving tests but acknowledged the issue was an “increasing problem and one the State Government is committed to addressing”.

“We are working on a holistic approach to combating drug driving that includes public awareness, enforcement, as well as increased penalties to act as a deterrent,” he said.

“A significant amount of work has been undertaken to review the current drug driving laws and develop recommended changes to legislation, which I intend to present by the end of the year.”