Victoria will have the strongest penalties for a drink and drug driving in Australia as part of sweeping changes to improve road safety and stamp out dangerous driver behaviour.
From today, first-time drink drivers who record a blood alcohol reading between .05 and .069 face licence cancellation and disqualification for three months, while all drivers caught over the 0.05 limit will be forced to have an alcohol interlock fitted to their cars for six months. Licence suspensions for drivers detected with illicit substances in their system will increase from three to six months and six to 12 months for repeat offenders. Victorian drivers convicted of drink or drug driving interstate will be subject to Victorian drink-driving penalties.
All drink-drivers will also have to complete a 'new behaviour change program' before being given their license back.
According to the Victorian State Government, up to 3000 fully-licensed drivers are caught with a BAC between 0.05 and 0.69 every year.
The following changes will come into place:
- All drink drivers recording a BAC of 0.05 and over will lose their licences for a minimum of three months.
- All drink drivers will face mandatory interlock conditions for a minimum of six months.
- All drink and drug drivers will be required to participate in a behaviour change program.
These changes are part of the Government’s $1.1 billion ‘Towards Zero’ strategy, a joint plan by the TAC and VicRoads to reduce the number of lives lost on our roads to 200 or fewer and serious injuries by 15 per cent by 2020.
Along with the drink driving changes, proposed changes to the Road Safety Act (1986) will allow Victoria Police more freedom to end pursuits using a "range of new devices".
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan said in a statement said, “We make no apologies for stamping out this dangerous behaviour – and these new changes will get a dangerous drink and drug drivers off our roads.”
These laws send a strong message that there’s no excuse for drink or drug driving, which puts the safety of the other drivers and the wider community at risk.
“Research has shown licence bans reduce repeat drink driving offences by 70 per cent while fitting an alcohol interlock device cuts repeat offences by 63 per cent – that is a major benefit for road safety.” said VicRoads Acting Deputy CEO, Robyn Seymour in a media release.
As per Transport Accident Commission Manager Road Safety, Samantha Cockfield, “The best approach is to completely separate drinking from driving, and for people who struggle to do this, interlock devices provide a safe means of returning to the road.”
