General News
5 December, 2025
Police to conduct more drug tests
Victoria Police focus on road safety, with TACs support, in $21.1 million project.
Victoria Police will conduct an extra 25,000 roadside drug tests every year, expand the use of technology to catch unauthorised drivers and reduce paperwork so police spend more time on the road in a major safety boost.
The road policing uplift, funded by the Transport Accident Commission as part of Victoria’s road safety partnership, includes five key projects valued at a combined $21.1 million.
The projects will be progressively rolled out over the next five years, with some already underway.
The boost includes:
An additional 25,000 roadside drug tests to be conducted each year, bringing the total number of roadside drug tests to 175,000 annually — valued at $4.5m
The delivery of a Roadside Impaired Driver Evidence (RIDE) application to reduce the manual paperwork required at the roadside for processing drug and alcohol data collection — valued at $5.8m
An additional 88 vehicles fitted with automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) technology. These will be based at 24-hour police stations to assist with detecting dangerous and unauthorised drivers — valued at $6.4m
The replacement and upgrade of police in-car video technology in 98 vehicles. This will be allocated to one-member stations in regional and remote locations — valued at $2.8m
The replacement of 123 evidentiary breath testing instruments used to detect drink drivers and purchasing an additional 27 new instruments — valued at $1.5m
The rollout of the additional roadside drug testing has already begun, with Victoria Police on track to conduct a record 175,000 roadside drug tests this financial year.
“This is a massive investment from the Transport Accident Commission and there is no doubt it will save lives,” Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said.
“The boost also allows us to enhance technology across the force to ensure our people have the tools they need to enforce effectively and make the roads safer.
“This includes targeting behaviours that contribute to road trauma like speed, impaired driving, high-risk driving and unauthorised driving.
“We remain committed to working alongside our road safety partners to reduce the number of fatal and serious injuries on our roads.”
Drug driving is one of Victoria’s leading causes of road trauma.
There were 793 collisions recorded last financial year where the driver was drug impaired, and 8294 motorists detected for drug driving over the period.
All five of the newly funded projects are underway and will be completed by the 2029-30 financial year.