Random checks driving down road trauma, research finds
Researchers have found NSW has Australia’s best performing breath testing regime for both car and truck drivers.
The study by the University of Queensland’s Institute for Social Science Research analysed each state’s random breath testing systems against the numbers of alcohol-related crashes.
The study considered data from between January 2000 and December 2012.
It found efforts in NSW in particular had reduced the adverse impact of alcohol on road safety by a significant margin.
“In 1980, alcohol was a contributing factor in 30 per cent of fatalities, but by 2013, we got this down to 16 per cent,” Centre for Road Safety general manager Marg Prendergast says.
“With our ‘Plan B’ advertising campaign, police random breath testing and strong penalties including licence disqualification, fines and now mandatory alcohol interlocks for high range and repeat offenders, the community now understands, and no longer accepts, the risk that drink driving poses.”
Alcohol related road trauma has not just fallen as a part of all road crashes; the absolute figure of all road trauma is also at its lowest in generations.
“At the end of last year, there were 309 fatalities on our roads, the lowest since 1924,” Prendergast says.
Commander of the state traffic and highway patrol John Hartley says NSW’s random breath testing of all road users had played a significant part in reducing road trauma.
“Officers conducting static and mobile random breath testing have been solely focused on driving down the road toll in NSW,” Hartley says.
“Since January 2014, more than 6.9 million random breath tests have been conducted, and more than 23,300 drivers have been charged with drink driving.”
The study was funded by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.