Drink-driving Qld: 43 a day caught in latest blitz on state roads

Queensland police’s road breath testing efforts is on track to be the most intense at least since the pandemic. Here’s why.

A police officer performs a random breath test.

An average of 43 Queenslanders have been caught drink-driving every day this year, as police undertake a breath-testing blitz across suburban streets.

And Queensland police’s road breath testing efforts is on track to be the most intense at least since the pandemic, with officers on track to crack the two million mark by the end of the year.

New data has revealed 5233 motorists have been caught drink-driving between January and April this year — an average of more than 1300 a month, or 43 a day every day.

This comes from 740,000 breath tests conducted in that time frame for a strike rate of one drink-driver for every 141 tests.

The latest statistics have sparked renewed calls from the state’s peak motoring body for stronger vehicle impound laws for extreme driving.

Queensland Police have revealed they are concentrating their RBT efforts on suburban streets with one blitz catching out a shocking seven drivers out of just 10 intercepts.

In 2024, there were 15,364 drink-driving offences recorded across the state — averaging 1280 errant drivers a month.

The two million RBTs police are on track to conduct is more than the 1.83m achieved in 2024, and larger than any year since at least 2020.

Less than half of all drink-drivers pinged since January 2024 had a low range blood alcohol reading, while a quarter (4807) were mid-range.

A total of 3319 drivers pinged of more than 20,000 notched a blood alcohol limit at least three times the limit.

A motorist is breath-tested.

Hundreds were charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath or blood.

QPS Road Policing and Regional Support Command Chief Superintendent Garrath Channells said addressing impaired driving was a real focus for police — and this included RBTs and drug testing in localised suburban streets instead of just main thoroughfares.

“Sadly, we find people driving impaired on our roadways at all times of the day and night but typically for planned activity it’s late afternoon through into the early hours of the morning,” he said.

“If you’re going out to have a good time and you are intending to have a few drinks, you should have a plan about how you get home safely, so you should never drink and drive.”

Superintendent Channells said in the last week of May officers conducted 10 intercepts in the Logan area and detected seven positive readings for drink-driving.

RACQ’s Head of Public Policy Dr Michael Kane said increasing fines hadn’t been effective, with stronger vehicle impoundment laws needed for speeding, drink, and drug driving.

“Drivers offending for the first time with lower-level extreme driving offences would have their cars impounded or immobilised initially for 30 days,” he said.

“If they offended again, their car could be impounded for 90 days and for a third offence it could be permanently confiscated through legal proceedings.

So far this year there have been 118 fatalities on Queensland roads, which is three more than the same time in 2024.

Last year there were 302 fatalities with 90 of those involving drink or drug drivers.

Originally published as Drink-driving Qld: 43 a day caught in latest blitz on state roads