Wednesday 1 November 2023: Alarming new research has found more than one-in-10 drivers surveyed who drink admitted to driving while over the legal blood-alcohol limit, with preliminary data showing 35 lives had been lost in NSW due to alcohol-related crashes this year.
The NRMA has today released Bust the Boozers, a new report into drink driving as part of its Road Safety Series. The NRMA has also launched an e-petition to the NSW Parliament calling for an increase in RBTs across the state to be equivalent to at least 1.1 tests, per licence holder, per year.
Bust the Boozers revealed that 12 per cent of people surveyed who drink alcohol had driven while over the limit and a further 17 per cent got behind the wheel when they were possibly over the limit. Of those who drank the night before almost one-in-three could have been over the limit the next day.
The NRMA report also found that of those who admitted to drink driving 14 per cent had previously been caught by an RBT.
Worryingly, less than half those surveyed (45%) have seen an RBT in the last six months and less than one-quarter (23%) have seen an RBT in the last seven to 12 months.
Bust the Boozers outlines that the Austroads best practice model is for at least 1.1 RBT tests per licence holder per year. On this year’s figures this equates to over 7.3 million tests across NSW. In 2022, over 3.8 million tests were conducted – a 36 per cent drop on 2019 levels.
The NRMA e-petition is also calling on the NSW Government to attract and retain Police to ensure that visible policing is increased and that RBT rates are aligned to best practice.
In 2020/21 the NSW Government spent $42 million on speed and mobile phone cameras from the Community Road Safety Fund – almost double the amount spent on Police.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said with the NSW road toll 24 per cent higher than the same time last year a radical shift was needed on how the state cracked down on drunk drivers.
“It is abhorrent that in 2023 we are still having to tell people to stop drink driving,” Mr Khoury said. “Over 40 years ago the NRMA launched Australia’s first-ever drink driving campaign yet with almost one-in-five deaths alcohol related it’s clear we have so much work to do and the tip of the spear remains the booze bus and RBTs.
“Increasing the number of RBTs on our roads is the ultimate deterrent. The more drivers see them set up on the side of the road testing drivers the more likely they are to not risk drink driving.
"To the public the NRMA’s message is clear – don’t drink and drive. To the NSW Government we call for a dramatic increase in the number of RBTs conducted on our roads and the necessary resourcing given to the Police to get the job done.”
To view the e-petition please click here.
Contact: Peter Khoury
