MP calls for drug driving crackdown

By Daneka Hill

Jul 16, 2020

More drug driving tests and greater access to defensive driving courses are the two key recommendations submitted by Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell to a road safety inquiry.

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Ms Maxwell, Darren Hinch Justice Party MP, said drug saliva testing needed to be dramatically increased on Victoria's roads to better reflect the death toll statistics.

“Drugs are surpassing alcohol as a risk factor on Victoria’s roads and they’re something we need to ramp up in order to improve public safety,” Ms Maxwell said

In her recent submission to the ongoing inquiry into Victoria's increasing road death toll, Ms Maxwell – who is married to a police officer – stressed the importance of equipping as many police officers as possible with drug saliva tests.

“What we are seeing in Australia is that only Highway Patrol officers can conduct drug driving tests. If Victoria police trained and equipped all members to conduct random drug tests, the capacity to get drug-affected drivers off our roads would increase exponentially,” she said.

In the last five years 41 per cent of all drivers and motorcyclists killed on the roads who were tested for drugs returned positive readings, according to the Transport Accident Commission.

In the past the use of drug saliva tests has been limited because of their high price tag.

Ms Maxwell said the higher cost to the taxpayer was necessary if it meant saving lives.

Equally stressed in Mrs Maxwell’s submission to the inquiry was the need for greater defensive driving opportunities for young people.

While touring the Driver Education Centre of Australia (DECA) in Shepparton, Ms Maxwell said she wanted to see more young people able to handle their vehicles under pressure and knowing what to do when losing control.

The DECA is a national leader in defensive truck driving and offers advanced driving certification but has little in the way of training for the average, starting road user.

“I’ve always considered defensive driving important. Some people say it creates hoons, but it doesn’t. Hoons are kids who want to go out and push their vehicles to the limit,” Ms Maxwell said.

“We know a lot of accidents happen on rural roads at 100 km/h.”

Ms Maxwell's submission also mentioned improving country roads and toughening penalties for drug drivers and hit-and-run offenders.