.02 limit in Victoria in the news

[Franco Cozzo]

Alarming number of drink-drivers allowed to stay on road as .02 limit mooted

ANTI-booze campaigners have backed a renewed push to reduce Victoria’s legal blood alcohol limit to help save lives.

A coalition of drug and alcohol educators say it’s time Victoria reviewed its drink-driving regulations to help curb offences and end the carnage on our roads.

It comes a day after Victoria Police suggested there should be a debate about dropping the legal limit to .02

It also follows revelations that more than 14,000 drink drivers caught with a blood alcohol level of up to .069 have kept their licenses in the past five years.

Shane Varcoe, chief executive at Victoria’s Dalgarno Institute, said it was time for a new clamp down on blood-alcohol rules.

Should the legal limit be reduced to .02? Have your say below.

“It’s now time to make the change,” Mr Varcoe said.

“The public are ready for it.”

This week Acting Superintendent Martin Boorman said there needed to be a balance in how police dealt with people who miscalculated how many drinks they’d had.

He warned the bar was set at .05, where drivers so affected were considered to present an ``unacceptable risk’’.

``It’s something that needs to be debated and the community needs to think about it,” Supt Boorman said. ``If there is evidence to support that, then maybe, it’s something we should do.’’

Mr Varcoe said changes to the drink-driving rules was no longer a ``radical’’ idea.

``The evidence already shows that the risk of accident increases the higher the blood alcohol limit,” he said.

``There is strong evidence that someone’s ability to drive is affected if they have any alcohol in their blood.’’

He said drivers with a blood-alcohol reading of between .02 and .05 had at least a three times greater risk of dying in a car crash. ``This risk increases to at least six times with a reading between .05 and .08, and to 11 times with a between .08 and .10.’’

``There is good evidence already collected through studies that show lowering the blood-alcohol concentration will certainly be a key contributor to reducing the road toll.’’

Queensland’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety professor Barry Watson is among others to back the concept.

``I think that the move to .02 is certainly something that we need to consider,” he said previously. ``It’s certainly something that we need to encourage public discussion about.’’

Victoria Police conduct four million breath tests a year.

Police have praised the changing attitudes of drivers that has seen those caught dropping from 16,373 in 2009 to 10,345 last year.

The figures show that 65,735 drink drivers were caught in the last five years, including 11,963 repeat offenders.

Supt Boorman said the bar was set at .05, where drivers so affected were considered to present an “unacceptable risk” on the road, but changing it, even dropping it to .02, could be re-examined.

“It’s something that needs to be debated and the community need to think about it,” he said.

“If there is evidence to support that, then maybe it’s something we should do.”

Supt Boorman said 20 per cent of fatal crashes in Victoria were alcohol-related.

“If you do drink and drive, we will catch you and you will pay the price,” he said.

“That’s the best outcome, because if you continue to drink-drive and we don’t catch you, the penalties will be much, much more — serious injury, death, killing a loved one,” he said.

“I think in today’s community, drink-drivers are very much frowned upon and there is also a social stigma.

“The community has decided as a whole not to tolerate drink-driving. It has taken 50-odd years to get to that stage.”

From October, drink-drivers who are P-platers or are over .07 will have to install an interlock device on their cars. The cars of those with a reading of more than .01 will be impounded.

DRIVERS CAUGHT BETWEEN .05 and- .069

2009: 4190

2010: 3735

2011: 3345

2012: 2987

2013: 2445

DRINK DRIVE TOTAL

2009: 16,373 (3296 repeat offenders)

2010: 14,763 (2658 repeat offenders)

2011: 12,582 (2226 repeat offenders)

2012: 11,672 (2027 repeat offenders)

2013: 10,345 (1756 repeat offenders)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law...0e84a9b6f3e878

I think thats not a bad idea, maybe even .00 like we all had to do on our Ls and Ps? We managed then why couldn't you manage now?

Or make it .02 limit, if you get caught between .02 and .05 just make it a $500 fine and 3 points but you keep your license, .05+ the normal loss of license/fine scenario.

That way the state has more revenue coming in and people will still be able to get to work for what we see as "acceptable" today, while still having your "crackdown" and raising $$$ at the same time.

What do you guys think?