A ‘couple of drinks’ is not OK: Police stunned by drink-driving surge
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Victoria Police say they are stunned by the level of drink-driving on the state’s roads, with a recent blitz showing a surge in offenders and with nearly a quarter of the state’s road deaths linked to impaired drivers.
A testing operation on the Monash Freeway last week caught one driver out of every 73 tests. The median strike rate for these operations is usually one in 250.
Victoria Police are alarmed about the number of drink-drivers being caught.
“We were absolutely stunned that people are continuing to take such high-level risks,” Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Glenn Weir said on Saturday.
Authorities are so concerned that they have launched a new campaign warning Victorians about the inaccuracy of myths including that you are safe to drive if you only have a couple of drinks or accompany alcohol with a big meal.
Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne on Saturday said Victorians would struggle to avoid the campaign, to be plastered online and across websites, television, radio, music streaming platforms, cinemas, social media and billboards.
“We have got this going out over every single channel that you can possibly imagine to be able to get this critical message through,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir.Credit: Joe Armao
It has been released to coincide with the start of the festive season and as Victoria’s road toll sits at 271 deaths, compared with 226 for the same time last year.
Weir said that of these deaths, more than 70 involved drivers who were impaired by alcohol, drugs or a combination of both.
“That’s almost a quarter. Seventy people who could have still been around to enjoy Christmas with family and friends who aren’t around and that those families now have to deal with that trauma,” he said.
This year has been the worst year for road trauma in 15 years and November was the worst month this year for injuries and deaths.
Transport Accident Commission chief executive Tracey Slatter said research showed the overwhelming majority of Victorians agreed that drink-driving was wrong.
“However, half of the people that we researched also thought that having a couple of drinks would mean that they were still safe to drive,” she said.
“This campaign aims to dispel that myth.
“Many people think they can manage their blood-alcohol level by following a set of vague rules handed down through generations, but the only way to avoid the risk entirely is to completely separate drinking and driving.”
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