Heading towards zero: New support for tougher drink driving laws
The Australian government has promised zero fatalities due to drink driving by 2050, but in order to do so, they will need to cut the existing blood-alcohol limit of 0.05 to zero for drivers and motorcyclists aged under 22 within five to 10 years according to a report by the peak transport and traffic agency Austroads.
The report reveals that 200 people die each year to alcohol related crashes, accounting for 18 per cent of fatalities and resulting in thousands of serious injuries.
The report does not cover alcohol-related deaths or injuries of pedestrians, including the four children who were killed at Oatlands by an alleged drunk driver who reportedly recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.15, three times above the limit.
NSW Police revealed that since 2019, pedestrian deaths had nearly tripled to 16, compared to six last year.
“There is probably a feeling [in the community] that drink driving is under control, but it is not,” said Eric Howard, the lead author of Austroads’ report.
The recommendations on the report highlighted each state’s best practices, including NSW’s immediate roadside suspension of licences. According to Mr Howard, if this rule was applied universally, more lives would be saved.
Harold Scruby, the Pedestrian Council of Australia’s chairman said he supports a “Scandi solution” of zero readings that separates drinking from driving and more enforcement of RBTs in less predictable locations.
While fatalities among road users had dropped, pedestrian deaths saw a spike, he said. It also posed an issue that close to 20 per cent of pedestrians killed or injured had been drunk walking, reporting readings of three times the legal limit.
Referring to the experience in Scandinavian countries, Austroads said zero blood-alcohol content resulted in drivers completely separating drinking from driving.
With Australia’s legal limit sitting at 0.05, drivers drink quite a bit before sitting behind the wheel.