General News
20 December, 2024
Road users urged to be safe this Christmas
As festive celebrations continue to surge throughout December, local authorities call for residents to keep drinking and driving separate.
Driving while under the influence of alcohol during December has been a prevalent road safety issue across the state.
Across the past three years, Victoria Police recorded 2591 drink driving incidents in December, 20 percent higher than the same period in November.
Across the same time frame, December also saw the highest number of collisions involving drivers over the blood alcohol content (BAC) limit (321), an 18 percent increase from November figures.
According to Central Goldfields Highway Patrol Sergeant Paul Martin, recent state trends have also been noticed locally.
“It’s the busiest time of the year — people are on the move celebrating Christmas and New Year, lots of people are on holidays and it’s the time of year where people drink more and are on the roads more,” he said.
“Recently there is some data to indicate the drink driving message might not be getting through as well as we had hoped which is a bit of a worry.
“Moving into the Christmas period and the New Year it’s obviously a concern and a focus for us.”
The 2023 Transport Accident Commission (TAC) Road Monitor Report states that while the overall trend of motorists “intentionally driving while over the legal BAC is declining”, many drivers continue to drive after drinking alcohol.
According to the report, drinking and driving is most prevalent in rural communities with 51 percent of responders driving after consuming alcohol and 51 percent driving whilst confident they were below the BAC limit.
Sgt Martin asks residents to make alternative transport arrangements when drinking during the festive season, as drinking and driving don’t mix.
“If you are going to be drinking, you are best not to drive, that’s the best advice because there are just so many variables that can affect what your reading might be,” he said.
“You might feel that you are ok, we see it with people having a couple of glasses of wine and think they are ok to drive and they find out that they are pushing things.
“If you are planning to drink, take steps to plan not to drive and just guarantee that you protect yourself and are not placing others at risk.
“Where people do get caught drink driving is often when someone makes a quick decision to have a few drinks or something spontaneous that puts them in a situation where they take risks to get home.
“It’s more difficult for people in rural areas, your transport options are not as prevalent as they are in the city so you need to make arrangements.”
In a bid to ensure everyone reaches their festive celebrations safely, local police have already commenced a Christmas clampdown with Operation Roadwise.
The annual statewide operation, which will conclude on Wednesday, January 1, aims to prioritise road safety with police highly visible on popular roads.
According to TAC, 279 people have lost their lives on Victorian roads this year, already the third-highest tally since 2012.
Sgt Martin said police can be anywhere at any time to try and prevent any more lives being added to the total.
“[Operation] Roadwise has more element to it than just drink driving such as impaired driving, fatigue, distraction and the vulnerable road users,” he said.
“For us, it’s just a case of being present, visible and trying to influence that behaviour.
“You will certainly see plenty of highly visible activities over the next few weeks, lots of roadside testings and intercepts.
“Plan your drinking, plan your travel, monitor your fatigue and just be considerate of other road users — a little bit of consideration goes a long way in terms of road safety.”