General News
21 December, 2023
Think smart this Christmas
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and Victorian Police have launched a new road safety campaign aimed at drink driving — a “leading factor” in road trauma. The Stop Kidding Yourself campaign has launched during the holiday season to try...
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and Victorian Police have launched a new road safety campaign aimed at drink driving — a “leading factor” in road trauma.
The Stop Kidding Yourself campaign has launched during the holiday season to try and debunk common misconceptions about drinking and driving.
The latest TAC road safety monitor report found that 48 percent of Victorians would consider driving after having two or more alcoholic drinks.
TAC CEO Tracey Slatter said these statistics heavily concern her.
“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,” Ms Slatter said.
“As a state, we have experienced unthinkable levels of trauma on our roads this year — we need to come together as a community and empower each other to make safe choices.
“Despite progress, alcohol remains a leading factor in trauma on our roads and our message to Victorians this summer is that drinking and driving don’t mix.”
TAC have found drivers below the legal Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) limit of 0.05 can still have the inability to determine safe driving distances, suffer from slower reaction times and take more risks while driving after having alcohol. These factors mean impaired drivers with a BAC between 0.02 and 0.05 have double the crash risk of a sober driver.
TAC also estimates the number of road fatalities each year would reduce by up to 20 percent if everyone avoided driving after drinking.
287 people have keen killed on Victorian roads this year, which is nearly up 23 percent from this time last year and has already surpassed the 241 lives lost in 2022.
287 is the second highest lives lost tally in the last 10 years and is on track to be the highest since 2008 where 303 people lost their life on Victorian roads.
2023 has also seen a 31 percent increase of deaths in rural Victoria to 169, with 23 of those happening in the Loddon-Mallee region.
This includes a 30-year-old woman in a two car collision in Laanecoorie in January, a 53-year-old who left the road and crashed into a tree in Rathscar in February, and a 47-year-old man who crashed into a creek near the Clunes-Mount Cameron Road in November.
The campaign also comes as Victorian Police commenced Operation Roadwise last friday, which is an 18 day crackdown on driving offences, especially drinking and driving during the festive season.
This year’s operation is running for an extra six days to cover the busy New Year period with police providing highly visible enforcement on major roads.
Road policing assistant commissioner, Glenn Weir said motorists should put extra though towards the safety of themselves, and others, whilst on the road during the festive season.
“We’re urging everyone to make road safety a priority during the festive period — the last place you want to end up this Christmas is in a hospital, or worse, as a result of road trauma,” he said.
“We will be focusing heavily on impaired drivers, so expect to be tested, and be prepared to face the consequences if you’re caught over the limit.
“For those who choose to ignore the road rules, you’ll be up for a costly Christmas. The penalties are significant, and we make no apologies for enforcing the rules, it could save someone’s life.
“It has been a horror year on our roads and we will be doing all we can to stop this needless loss of life.”
In the first five days of Operation Roadwise, Victoria Police have detected a total 4701 offences, with 321 being drink and drug driving offences.
During last year’s operation, police detected 511 drink driving offences from 201,091 preliminary breath tests and a further 375 drug driving offences from 5122 roadside drug tests.
A fully licensed driver can expect a $577 fine and a three to six month license suspension if they are in charge of a motor vehicle with a BAC level of 0.05 and 0.069.
Other common penalties include a $385 fine and three demerit points for low range speeding, a $481 fine and three demerit points for failure to obey traffic lights, and a $577 fine and four demerit points for using a mobile phone or device while driving.
The TAC and Victorian Government are committed to the 2021-2030 Victorian Road Safety Strategy which aims to half the road deaths by 2030 and creating a framework to have zero road deaths by 2050. Plans include using jurisdiction around driver behaviour and vehicle safety which has been effective in the UK, Sweden and Norway.
For more information about the dangers of drinking and driving, visit www.tac.vic.gov.au/road-safety/staying-safe/drink-driving