Limestone Coast Police have issued a warning to drink and drug drivers they will be caught, with police continuing to target irresponsible road users.
Last month Limestone Coast Police detected 19 drink drivers last month, including some more than four times the legal limit, along with 30 drug drivers through mobile driver testing and static drug and alcohol testing stations.
Of the 30 drug drivers detected locally, 18 were caught in Mount Gambier with three in Naracoorte and the rest throughout the South East.
South Australian Police Operations Inspector of the Limestone Coast Local Service Area Will Humphries said it was 49 too many drivers caught under the influence.
“Throughout July we did have quite a number of people stopped and detected for drink and drug driving,” he said.
“I would suggest there is no obvious increase in that sort of behaviour despite our testing but that obviously anyone that is choosing to get behind the wheel while they are impaired through drugs or alcohol is a significant concern and places both themselves and the rest of our community and road users at risk,” he said.
“It will depend on the testing focus for the period of time and that may be more demonstrative than a wider issue but regardless 30 (drug drivers) is 30 too many.
“Certainly we have instances of people continuing to engage in risky behaviours on our roads and that is certainly a concern for us where some people would choose to repeat an offence.”
Inspector Humphries said Limestone Coast Police will continue with their road safety approach to protect the community.
“Driver testing is part of our core business and it is an important part of the policing that we do in terms of keeping our road network safe,” he said.
“With the testing that we do, it is heartening to see the vast majority of the community are doing the right thing.
“I would say that we will continue our current approach to testing to continue to drive the message that that behaviour is unacceptable.
“Limestone Coast Police will continue to be out focusing on drink driving which is a high risk behaviour and a Fatal Five offence.
“We will continue to be testing and you can expect to be pulled over and tested.
“Obviously we would prefer that people are not drink driving and then they are not going to be caught so if a person gets behind the wheel of a car after they have been drinking, that is a significant concern so prevention is always at the forefront of our minds.
“My message to drink drivers is that if you are driving whilst exceeding the prescribed amount of alcohol or driving under the influence of alcohol then you are taking an exceptional risk not only with your own life but the lives of the rest of our road users and community.
“Drug driving continues to be a concern with similar issues in terms of impaired driver reactions or risk taking behaviour as associated with driving whilst drugs are present in your system and drug testing continues to be something that we do here in the Limestone Coast and we are still seeing some detections still.”
Inspector Humphries said Limestone Coast Police have a significant focus on the Fatal Five which were unsafe driver behaviours that increased the potential for deaths and injuries on the road.
“Whilst all road rules are important for ensuring that our roads are safe and regulated and efficient, we know there are certain offences that we commonly refer to as the Fatal Five offences that are highly represented in serious injury and fatal crashes and that we know increase the risk of serious injury and fatal crashes,” he said.
“Drink and drug driving are some of those Fatal Five offences. Some of the key ones here that we focus on are speeding, distracted drivers … dangerous road users and dangerous road use behaviour.
“We are obviously in a regional setting so for us a significant focus is obviously on speeding and making sure people are abiding by the speed limits for our regional road network.
“We do dedicate a lot of time to road safety within the Limestone Coast and I can say the vast majority of road users within our community are doing the right thing but we do continue to stop people for speeding offences which is concerning.”
