People Against Drink/Drug Driving

August 28, 2019 

Alcohol is still a factor in about a quarter of traffic deaths in Queensland, research has found. QUT’s Centre of Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q) analysed the database of Queensland road crashes from 1981 to 2017. 

They found about 25 per cent of drivers and riders killed on the state’s roads in the last five years of that period were over the 0.05 legal blood alcohol limit.

But Professor Barry Watson said the research showed road safety had come a long way in 40 years. “In the early 1980s, drink driving really was an epidemic in the community, and about 50 per cent of the drivers and riders who were killed had a BAC above 0.05,” Professor Watson said.

“So, over those 40 years we’ve been able to effectively halve the problem, but on the other side of things the fact that it’s still around 25 per cent of fatalities is a concern.

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About 70 percent of those who engage in simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use reported simultaneous use at least weekly

A new study from Penn State found that compared to people who only drank alcohol, those who used alcohol and marijuana simultaneously were more likely to drink heavier and more often. They were also more likely to experience alcohol-related problems -- like impulsive actions they later regretted.

"The results suggest that individuals who simultaneously use alcohol and marijuana are at a disproportionately higher risk for heavy, frequent, and problematic substance use," said Ashley Linden-Carmichael, assistant research professor at the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State.

The researchers said the findings -- recently published in the journal Substance Use and Misuse-- also suggest that prevention and intervention programs should take into account not just alcohol, but also if people are using additional substances, as well.

According to the researchers, marijuana use is at an all-time high among young adults in the U.S., possibly leading to people using marijuana and alcohol simultaneously.

"The problem with simultaneous use is that it can affect people cognitively and perceptually, and also have an impact on motor impairment," Linden-Carmichael said. "There is a burgeoning area of research that is examining why people are using marijuana and alcohol together and what those effects are."

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The NRMA-owned Manly Fast Ferry has confirmed it stood some deckhands down after they tested "non-negative" for illicit drugs on Monday, as revealed by the Herald's CBD column on Friday.

With fewer staff available, the NRMA said it had been forced to reduce the frequency of some of its tourist services that travel between stops including Taronga Zoo and Darling Harbour on Friday. 

But a spokeswoman said Manly to Circular services were unaffected and it expects normal schedule times to operate across the weekend.

"Some deckhand staff returned non-negative results and others who did not make themselves available for the random drug test have been stood down indefinitely," a NRMA spokeswoman said.

"We’ve done this to give our passengers assurance around safety and that we have a zero tolerance policy around illicit drug use," the spokeswoman said.

The NRMA, which operates 11 fast ferry vessels through a subsidiary, is locked in a dispute with the Maritime Union over worker pay which has lasted for months.

About 80 fast ferry workers have gone on strike several times this year in a campaign for higher wages after an enterprise agreement was struck down in January.

An NRMA spokeswoman said the CFMMEU, of which the Maritime Union is a part, was notified when the staff were stood down.

But the spokeswoman declined to say how many ferry workers were stood down or what drugs were allegedly in their system because the company has not informed other workers. It is understood that will happen on Monday.

The Maritime Union declined to comment.

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The Icelandic parliament Althingi unanimously approved new traffic laws. Decreases in blood alcohol levels are among the adopted changes.

The maximum permissible amount of blood alcohol concentration in a driver will be reduced from .05 to .02 BAC. It is stated that there is a definite policy of the authorities that alcohol and driving motor vehicles do not coincide.

Evidence shows that driving under the influence of alcohol is the second most common cause of fatal traffic accidents in Iceland after speeding. Studies also show that .05 blood alcohol concentration has a significant impact on the driving performance and increases the likelihood of accidents. A driver with a blood alcohol level of .05 is 150 times more likely to die in a traffic accident, and 30 times more likely to suffer serious injuries.

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THE licences of hundreds of boozy motorists have been suspended in the first eight months of the nation’s toughest drink-driving laws. An average of four Victorian drivers a day were caught with a blood alcohol reading between .05 and .069 in May to December last year, costing them their licence for at least three months. Under the crackdown, their cars were also fitted with alcohol Interlock devices and they were forced into behavioural change programs….A further 1714 drivers were caught with a blood alcohol reading between .07 and .15. 

June 14

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