Managing the role of alcohol in road crashes: An Australian perspective Dr. Barry Watson RSA International Conference: Alcohol - Tackling the crisis on our roads, 1 June 2017
Achievements Overview Long-term reduction in alcohol-related driver fatalities High level of community disapproval of drink driving and strong support for countermeasures Countermeasures Many best-practice countermeasures in place Strong focus on general deterrence oriented policing and offender management Challenges Where to next with drink driving? Need to better manage drink walking
Where in the world is Queensland? Australia: Population = 24.65 million Land area = 7.7 million km 2 Reg.vehicles = 18.4 million Driver s licences = 17.2 million Queensland: Population = 4.8 million Land area = 1.7 million km 2 Reg.vehicles = 4.3 million Driver s licences = 3.8 million
Alcohol-impaired driving: Drink driving
Please note that this graph: Percentage of drivers and riders killed with BAC of.05 or more in Australia: 1980-2015 (where BAC is known*) % 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 44 42 40 37 39 40 37 35 34 34 32 28 29 28 30 31 33 29 28 26 27 28 28 28 24 25 26 26 26 25 23 20 22 19 18 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 Year 1. Excludes Victoria for all years. 2. Excludes WA for 2015 only. 3. Excludes drivers/riders with a special licence (eg P,L, heavy vehicles) that exceeded their special range limit (eg. zero) but recorded levels below 0.05. 4. Adjustments made for one jurisdiction with a large number of missing BAC values where a driver was reported as not having exceeded BAC limits. Sources: ATSB and BITRE
Evolution of drink driving countermeasures (1) Late 1960s and 1970s Introduction of per se drink driving laws, the use of the breathalyzer and a.08 general alcohol limit First drink driving publicity campaigns conducted 1980s Random Breath Testing (RBT) adopted, supported by intensive mass media publicity campaigns General alcohol limit lowered to.05 Mandatory penalties for drink driving introduced, generally entailing loss of licence
1990s Evolution of drink driving countermeasures (2) Introduction of zero alcohol limit for learner, provisional and professional drivers Ongoing refinements of drink driving penalties e.g. immediate licence loss for high-range offenders Increasing utilisation of drink driving rehabilitation 2000s to now Sustained high levels of random breath testing Introduction of alcohol ignition interlocks programs and vehicle impoundment for high-range/repeat offenders
A case study: Drink driving countermeasures in Queensland History: 1968 - Breathalyzer introduced 1982 - Alcohol limit reduced from.08 to.05 1986 - Reduced Impaired Driving (RID) 1988 - Random Breath Testing (RBT) Penalties and sanctions progressively made more severe and certain (e.g. licence loss for drink driving is mandatory for most offenders) Policing was supported by mass-media education Source: Watson et al, 1994
Alcohol-related fatalities in Queensland: 1978-1994 Number of driver/rider fatalities Source: Watson et al, 1994
Random Breath Testing (RBT) (1) Primary drink driving enforcement tool Conducted in highly visible, intensive manner to act as a general deterrent Underpinned by deterrence theory Some states conduct the equivalent of one breath test per licensed driver per year Evaluations confirm that RBT has produced long-term reductions in alcohol-related crashes Public support for RBT is extremely high (96%) Sources: Homel, 1988; Henstridge et al, 1994; Watson et al, 1994; Hart et al, 2004; Petroulias, 2014
Random Breath Testing (RBT) (2) RBT booze bus and car operations Source: Police/media in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria
Random Breath Testing (RBT) (3) Exposure to RBT activity in previous 6 months, 1993-2013 Source: Petroulias, 2014
Best practice features of RBT Research suggests that RBT is most effective when it is unpredictable, unavoidable & ubiquitous This requires: sustained high levels of testing, which is highly visible, threatening and rigorous that all drivers stopped should be tested that priority be given to highly visible, stationary operations that operational police be educated about the deterrence principles underpinning RBT operations be reinforced by public education Sources: Homel, 1986, 1988, Watson et al, 1994; Travelsafe, 1996; Hart et al, 2004; Bates et al, 2012
Drink driving sanctions in Queensland (1) 24-hour licence suspension applies to all drivers apprehended with a BAC less than 0.10 Immediate licence suspension for offenders: charged with a mid range or high range drink driving offence (0.10 BAC and over) failing to provide police with a specimen of breath or blood when requested Licence disqualification (following appearance in court) generally applied to all drink driving offenders Fines and period of disqualification linked to BAC
Drink driving penalties in Queensland: First offenders Source: Queensland Transport
Drink driving sanctions in Queensland (2) However, restricted work licences available to certain first offenders with a BAC <.150 on economic hardship grounds Voluntary drink driver rehabilitation programs offered in some courts Vehicle impoundment introduced for repeat, highrange (BAC.150) offenders in late 2008 Alcohol ignition interlocks introduced for highrange first offenders and repeat offenders in 2010
Alcohol Ignition Interlock
Drink Driving Education/Media Campaigns RBT has historically been supported by high profile education/media campaigns Two main approaches adopted: Reinforcing = reinforce purpose of enforcement (e.g., deterrence, likelihood of detection, road safety goal), educate about enforcement practices Transformative = attempt to change cultural attitudes and beliefs about drink driving, increase moral attachment to the law
Example of a Reinforcing Message Source: Western Australian Government
Example of a Transformative Message Source: Transport Accident Commission of Victoria
Drink Driving Attitudes Research shows that community attitudes to drink driving have undergone a dramatic positive shift over the last three decades: Generally perceived as a risky behavior and socially unacceptable The change is generally attributed to introduction of RBT and associated media and education But changes in general community values towards alcohol may have played a role
Ongoing challenges to managing drink driving (1) Alcohol still remains a significant factor in driver and rider fatalities (around 20% nationally) Recidivist drink drivers remain a concern: 15% of Queensland drink driving offenders have at least one previous offence in the preceding three years 14% of crash-involved drink drivers have a previous offence in the preceding three years (Leal et al, 2006) The uptake of alcohol ignition interlocks remains relatively low in some Australian states Link between drink driving and unlicensed driving
Ongoing challenges to managing drink driving (2) Over the last two to three decades in Australia: Alcohol has become more widely available Alcohol consumption has increased Problem consumption (e.g. binge drinking) has increased Current drink driving countermeasures may simply be holding the line against more widespread alcohol misuse Drink walking remains a concern
Percentage of total pedestrian fatalities with a BAC of.05 or more in Queensland: 1993-2014 % % 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 50 42 38 41 42 36 36 37 37 35 33 31 32 33 33 32 29 30 25 18 14 14 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 Source: Queensland Transport
Conclusion: Priorities for the future Continue to enhance RBT and related penalties to maximize their general deterrent effect Improve the management of recidivist drink driving offenders through widespread use of: alcohol ignition interlocks and vehicle impoundment supported by rehabilitation programs Introduce greater controls on alcohol consumption Develop non-intrusive alcohol ignition interlock devices for use in all motor vehicles or Develop new approaches to manage drink walking
Thank you b.watson@qut.edu.au
References (1) ATSB (undated). Alcohol and road fatalities. Monograph 5. Canberra: Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Bates, L., Soole, D. & Watson, B. (2012). The effectiveness of traffic policing in reducing traffic crashes. In T. Prenzler (Ed.), Policing and Security in Practice: Challenges and Achievements. London, UK: Macmillan Publishers. BITRE. Data provided by Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Economics. Canberra: Department of Infrastructure & Transport. Hart, S., Watson, B. & Tay, R. (2003). Barriers and facilitators to the effective operation of RBT in Queensland. 2003 Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference - From Research to Action: Conference Proceedings Peer Reviewed (pp.137-142). Sydney: NSW Roads & Traffic Authority. Henstridge, J., Homel, R. & Mackay, P. (1997). The long-term effects of Random Breath Testing in four Australian states: A time series analysis, CR 162, Federal Office of Road Safety, Canberra. Homel, R. (1986). Policing the drinking driver: Random Breath Testing and the process of deterrence. Canberra: Federal Office of Road Safety. Homel R. (1988). Policing and punishing the drinking driver: A study of specific and general deterrence. New York: Springer-Verlag.
References (2) Leal, N.L., King, M.J., & Lewis, I. M. (2006). Profiling drink driving offenders in Queensland. In: 2006 Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing & Education Conference, October 25-27, 2006, Gold Coast, Australia. Petroulis, T. (2014). Community Attitudes to Road Safety: 2013 Survey Report Canberra: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Local Government. Watson, B., Fraine, G. & Mitchell, L. (1994). Enhancing the effectiveness of RBT in Queensland. Prevention of Alcohol Related Road Crashes: Social and Legal Approaches Conference, Brisbane, 20 August 1994. Brisbane: Griffith University. Watson, B., Armstrong, K., Watson, A. & Barraclough, P. (2012). Crash involvement patterns of unlicensed drivers and riders in Queensland. Report to Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Brisbane: Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety (CARRS-Q), Queensland University of Technology.