The Victorian Government has announced a $21.1 million boost to road policing operations, which will see more roadside drug tests and improved technology to catch those doing the wrong thing.
The investment will deliver five Victoria Police projects to increase drug testing, expand the use of technology to catch unauthorised drivers and reduce paperwork.
“Victoria Police do an incredible job keeping our roads safe – this investment gives them the tools they need to target dangerous drivers and prevent tragedies before they happen,” said Minister for Police, Anthony Carbines.
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) funding will see:
- An extra 25,000 roadside drug tests each year;
- Roadside Impaired Driver Evidence (RIDE) technology to reduce the manual paperwork required at the roadside to process drug and alcohol data collection
- an extra 88 vehicles fitted with automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) technology to help detect dangerous and unauthorised drivers;
- the replacement and upgrade of police in-car video technology in 98 vehicles, allocated to one-member stations in regional and remote locations;
- the replacement of 123 evidentiary breath testing instruments used to detect drink drivers and purchasing an additional 27 new instruments.
“This investment will make our roads safer by giving police more equipment to crack down on illegal and dangerous driving,” said TAC CEO, Tracey Slatter.
Victoria Police has started rolling out the additional roadside testing to combat drug driving, which now exceeds drink driving as a major cause of deaths on the state’s roads.
The new RIDE application will be developed to support the increase in tests, automating administrative processes relating to drug and alcohol testing.
“Decades of evidence shows us that enforcement is critical to saving lives and preventing injuries on our roads,” said Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne.
“That’s why we are throwing our support behind Victoria’s road police to increase drug tests, boost technology to catch unauthorised drivers and reduce time spent doing paperwork.”
