Alarming police RBT figures as almost one in 50 tested is caught

Police have warned Queensland motorists that increased random breath tests are on the way as they reveal the state’s worst drink-driving hot spots. SEE THE FIGURES

Police have halved the number of random breath tests across Queensland but drink-drivers are being caught at one of the highest rates in history, new figures reveal.

Officers caught 13,500 people drink-driving or failing to provide a sample in 2021-22, according to Queensland Police Service figures.

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There were 1.47m RBTs in the last financial year, compared to 3.1m in 2016-17, with the numbers decreasing through the Covid pandemic.

Road Policing Command acting Chief Superintendent Chris Stream told The Courier-Mail that the rate of drink-drivers being caught this year was about 1:54, compared to about 1:110 in 2019.

The worst areas this year include Cairns, Cape York, Cassowary Coast, Gold Coast, Logan and Moreton police districts.

Chief Supt Stream warned police were significantly increasing RBTs in 2022 with additional funding from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission going towards thousands of extra hours of road safety overtime.

13,500 BUSTS: Faces behind Qld’s drink driving scourge

Officers caught 13,500 people drink-driving or failing to provide a sample in 2021-22, according to Queensland Police Service figures. Picture: Scott Powick

“This is not from an insidious disease we don’t have the answer to,” he said.

“And what we’re asking people is to really think.

“Or if that person is intoxicated, they’re not thinking rationally; it’s up to all of the other people around them to try and intervene.”

Supt Stream said police were now using better intelligence to target drink-drivers, focusing on problem areas and periods between 6pm and 6am.

After every person is caught drink-driving they are asked where they had their last drink.

“It is a bit of a mixture between home and licensed premises,” Chief Supt Stream said.

He said motorists were taking unnecessary risks and needed to think about themselves and other road users.

Supt Stream said the rate of motorists being caught was one of the highest recorded and was only marginally improved on the rate of 1:50 in 2020.

Figures from Transport and Main Roads show 64 road deaths had alcohol as a contributing factor in 2021, a 23 per cent increase when compared to the 2016 to 2020 average.

Police say they are now using better intelligence to target drink-drivers, focusing on problem areas and periods between 6pm and 6am. Picture: Stewart McLean

In the first five months of the year, there were 33 road deaths with alcohol a factor.

“We are certainly putting every effort in to seeing that drop,” Supt Stream said.

“A number of districts have received that additional funding … and we will be targeting those RBT operations along with the drug-driving operations as well.”

Supt Stream said RBTs did not necessarily exclude daytime testing as some road users didn’t know how quickly their body processed alcohol, with accidents involving drink-drivers at all times of the day.

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“So they might have consumed a number of drinks on a Friday or Saturday night and then get up at 5am or 6am and then drive but they’re still over the permissible alcohol limits,” he said.

“In some cases, the strategies that are around not only main thoroughfares but known routes that we know people are driving.

“These operations are being conducted in the Cape, on the Gold Coast, in Brisbane, west through to Mount Isa.

“That is combined with local intelligence about routes, when we know that people might take a risk and drink-drive around licensed premises, entertainment precincts, those types of activities.”