Page 5234 - Week 12 - Thursday, 28 October 2010
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While some of the ACT’s higher drink-driving “hit rate” may be attributable to targeting through intelligence-led policing, it also indicates that there are many ACT drivers who simply do not understand that drinking and driving is not acceptable.
Despite numerous warnings and targeted police operations, around 1,500 ACT motorists are caught drink driving each year and approximately one-third of those are repeat offenders.
There is a clear need for the ACT’s drink-driving laws to do more to deter drink driving by letting motorists know that real and serious consequences will follow if they are caught. There is also a need to change the ACT’s drink-driving laws to more clearly send the message that drinking and driving simply do not mix.
The ACT’s drink-driving laws have not been substantially reviewed or revised since they were enacted in 1977, as part of the national move to impose drink-driving restrictions. All jurisdictions enacted drink-driving laws and most other jurisdictions have implemented substantial reforms to these laws over the past 30 years.
The packages of reforms made by this bill represent the most significant reform to drink-driving laws in the territory since self-government. They are largely in line with changes made to drink-driving laws in other jurisdictions over recent years.
The development of these reforms followed consultation with the community, through a discussion paper in mid 2008, which sought views on a range of potential reforms to the act. This discussion paper was followed by the establishment of a Drink-Driving Reform Working Group last year. This group was chaired by the Department of Territory and Municipal Services, and included representatives from ACT Policing, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, ACT courts, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Government Solicitor’s Office and ACT Health.
The expert working group developed a series of potential reforms to the existing drink-driving laws. These were considered by a road safety roundtable which the Chief Minister co-chaired with Mr Alan Evans from NRMA Motoring and Services. There was broad support from roundtable participants to proceed with the reforms that were flagged.
The package of reforms to emerge from this process is intended to reduce the incidence of drink driving by:
reinforcing the message drink or drive;
removing continuing access to a driver licence for more drink-driving offenders; and
having all drink drivers complete an appropriate alcohol awareness course.
Mr Speaker, I will now outline details of the reforms in this bill.
The first change to the drink-driving laws made by the bill is to reduce the blood or breath alcohol concentration, or BAC, for special drivers from the current .02 limit to zero.
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