Police were out in force on Tuesday 3 November to deter road users from making poor decisions after Melbourne Cup day celebrations.
Operation Stop Drink/Drug Drive was conducted across the state for the 24 hour period, involving both static and mobile testing, with a total of 34 drivers being detected for either an alcohol or drug driving offence.
- There were 4,001 alcotests conducted with 20 people detected over the legal blood alcohol limit. This equates to 0.49% of tested drivers.
- One person failed to comply with a blood alcohol test.
- The highest alcohol reading was recorded by a 55-year-old man from Whyalla Stuart, who returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.236 (0.236 grams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood)
- One learner driver, a 25-year-old man from Kurralta Park, recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.025. Alarmingly the qualified supervising driver, a 29-year-old woman from Kurralta Park, returned a reading of 0.061. The learner driver was also fined for not displaying L plates.
- 245 Drug Tests were conducted with 14 drug positives recorded. This equates to 5.71% of tested drivers
- 3 vehicles were impounded.
- 3 Immediate Loss of Licence notices were issued.
Inspector Cindy Healey, acting Officer in Charge Traffic Services Branch says the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are well evidenced and that there is no excuse for drivers making such dangerous and irresponsible decisions.
“In 11% of lives lost on our roads this year, the driver had alcohol in their system,” Inspector Healey said.
“Drugs have been present in the blood of 9% of drivers in fatal collisions this year.
These statistics are a grim reminder that people who choose to drive after drinking or taking drugs are putting their lives at risk and risking the lives of other innocent road users. Police will not tolerate this behaviour and these people will be caught.”
