Victoria drink and drug drivers map: See how many have been caught in your suburb
SERIAL drug drivers make up more than a quarter of those caught on Victoria’s roads, while about a third of people killed have drugs, alcohol or both in their system. See how many have been caught in your area.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
SERIAL drug drivers make up more than a quarter of those caught on Victoria’s roads.
Eight motorists nabbed in a year had previously been caught at least seven times, with the worst culprit a Portland man with 11 prior.
ALARM AT RECORD NUMBER OF DRUG-DRIVE DEATHS ON VICTORIAN ROADS
DRIVERS USING SYNTHETIC DRUGS AS DRUG-DRIVERS OVERTAKE DRINK-DRIVERS
Recidivist offenders comprised 1003 of the 10,174 drink drivers detected.
A Morwell man, who had been caught nine times before, recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.215.
A Doncaster driver posted the highest reading — 0.441, more than eight times the limit. So much alcohol would render most people unconscious.
New laws will from November next year empower police to seize the cars of repeat drink and drug drivers.
Victoria’s top roads cop, Doug Fryer, declared the disregard for other road users abhorrent as the force ramped up its safety effort over the notorious New Year period.
About a third of people killed on Victoria’s roads have drugs, alcohol or both in their system.
“Being impaired causes death — and that should be a sobering message to everybody,’’ Mr Fryer said.
Victoria Police figures compiled for the Herald Sun show 2453 of the 8941 drug drivers detected last year were recidivist offenders.
SEE HOW MANY FINES WERE ISSUED IN YOUR SUBURB:
An Albury/Wodonga woman with 10 prior offences, a Benalla man caught nine times before and a Heyfield man with eight strikes were among serial offenders.
Mr Fryer, Victoria Police’s Road Policing Command assistant commissioner, said even stints in jail hadn’t stopped a hardcore group of serial drug and drink drivers.
“There appears to be a very small core element in society that refuses to accept or change their behaviours around combining either drugs or alcohol with driving,’’ he said.
“Certainly there would be a number of those who would have been incarcerated because of their repeat drink and drug driving.
“They are an incredibly high risk to the community.
“We really are doing the heavy lifting here but there is a role for community to call out the behaviours of others.”
FIRST-TIME VICTORIAN DRINK DRIVERS TO LOSE LICENCES UNDER TOUGH NEW LAWS
Dandenong is Victoria’s hotspot for drug and drink driving, with 171 culprits detected in the suburb last year, ahead of Box Hill and Melbourne’s CBD.
A statewide holiday safety blitz, to continue until January 7, has caught hundreds of culprits — there were 672 drink drivers and 445 drug drivers caught within the first fortnight of the operation.
The new laws will allow police to impound the vehicles of repeat drug drivers and those who have a blood-alcohol content reading of 0.10 or above. Combined drug and drink culprits with lower readings but a prior offence will also loose their cars.
Acting Road Safety Minister Philip Dalidakis said drink and drug drivers were twice as likely to be involved in a crash.
“Drink and drug drivers are not only being bloody stupid, they are risking their lives and the lives of loved ones in their car and everyone else on the road — they’re also twice as likely to be involved in a crash,” he said.
“We’ve toughened penalties, expanded mandatory licence bans, alcohol interlocks and given police more powers to impound the vehicles of repeat offenders.”
Opposition police spokesman Ed O’Donohue demanded a “significant” expansion of roadside drug tests.
“The Liberal Nationals Coalition stands ready to support any reasonable measures that gets dangerous, recidivist drug and or drink drivers off our roads, including extending the licence disqualification periods,’’ Mr O’Donohue said.
Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the union wanted all police vehicles to be capable of drug testing and officers able to issue fines to get offenders off the road without the need for secondary tests.
“Given the concerning surge in drug driving, there is a real and imminent need for all police cars to have the capacity to conduct oral fluid drug tests,’’ Mr Gatt said.
“This will help to further weed out drug drivers from our roads and increase the safety of law abiding drivers.”